Players
by Kukaburraxxii
Summary: Ino joins the league of players Genma/Ino
1. Reputation

Genma and Ino :D I like these two!! But again it's very long...sigh

Sooo...I don't knwo whether to make this into a little story thing or not? I have the second part of this to upload but it's mostly just a big page of dirtiness and after that I don't know whether to continue or not? I'd like some feed back if anyone's willing to give some? Review Review :)

Enjoy enjoy :D

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There _had_ been a group of them, standing outside the shinobi watering hole on that lovely crisp Friday night but now the group had been whittled down to two individuals, neither of whom really knew each other very well, and as the exuberant Naruto gave his goodbyes and staggered drunkenly away with a timid Hyuuga prop, the two remaining found the atmosphere rather uncomfortable indeed.

Genma cursed, earlier that night when the mood had been slow he had decided to provide the entertainment himself and using the stealth and guile that had won him his shinobi status, had stolen Sarutobi Asuma's cigarettes off him. It _had_ been fun, especially when Asuma had got increasingly drunk throughout the night and was almost kicked out for violently accusing the bar tender. But now with a barely smoked cigarette at his fingers and a young blonde whom he was strangely cautious off standing next to him, he wished it had never crossed his mind that he might like to steal the jounin sensei's cigarettes. He _wanted _to finish the one he'd just lit but he also didn't like the stale air that hung between them: it reeked of discomfort.

Ino took a deep breath in and pretended that there was something on her skirt. _Oh god, think of something to say, Ino. _But what to say? Usually she just talked and if the other person didn't like it, well then it was their problem, but something about Shiranui Genma intimidated her, and she was not a woman easily intimidated, especially when she'd been drinking.

She was attracted to Genma, of course she was, everybody was, they were just put off by his reputation for being a chronic bed hopper, this made the situation even more strange because usually if Ino was attracted to someone she could flirt for Konoha with them – it had even earned her a rather dubious reputation – but Genma was different, she didn't know why he just was.

Genma was racking his brains similarly, wishing something witty and charming would fall flippantly off his tongue, but it just wasn't happening. _Something we have in common? What the hell do we have in common? Err...we kind of have Asuma in common_ and before he could think of reasons not to mention the bearded smokeaholic the words were out, and sounding horribly lame.

"So Asuma..." was all he could manage.

Ino looked sideways at Genma who was now looking into the distance with a stunned expression on his face, the cigarette halfway to his lips.

_Oh dear that wasn't very smooth_, he thought. "...is...your teacher?"

"Yeah," Ino had to give him points for trying, "he _was_ anyway."

"Oh, not any more?"

"I'm twenty."

"Oh."

...

_Ah, I killed it_, Ino sighed internally, _so my turn to say something then._ _What do I know about Genma? Well last week I heard that he slept with all the female admin staff at the ANBU headquarters and that he was really good at giving ... maybe not for a first time conversation. Hmmm..._

"So...you're an examiner?"

"Yeah."

"That sounds – er – fun."

"It's okay I guess." Silence. Ino wished she'd drunk more, even as she swayed slightly on the spot. "But I'm mostly in ANBU now," he just couldn't help showing off, but he tried, really he did and it didn't help that this was usually the first line in his arsenal of 'things to say to get a woman into bed'. He'd told himself not to hit on Ino but the brain in his pants had made the 'pretty girl – sex' connection quicker than his actual head brain could string a sentence together, and so he was helpless to prevent himself.

"Ooh, nice," Ino said, _I can work with this_, she thought, "you got a sexy uniform then?" Genma couldn't help but laugh; this was more like the audacious Ino that rumour painted her out to be...

"Er – yeah I guess," ...and that simple fact scared the hell out of him because then maybe the rumours were true, and if the rumours were true then he'd very much like to spend a night with Ino. _Very_ much.

"Asuma-sensei has one but-" Ino wrinkled her nose, "he looks funny-looking in it. But I guess it's funny to tease him about it, he gets so mad." Ino smirked evilly and for a second Genma imagined her as a blond haired vixen, sitting astride him with _that_ smirk on her face. It was a lovely image but he stored it away for future use. He never knew when it might come in handy...

"What?" he asked, tipping his head back, the cigarette between long fingers, "Even funnier than stealing his cigarettes?"

Ino allowed an amused smirk to cross her lips at his evildoing, her eyes lingering on the tip that had just been brought to his lips and was now resting there in the place of his usual senbon. She quirked an eyebrow.

"So it was you then? He's been going on about that all night." He let out a sly chuckle mixed with a whirl of smoke in the air.

"I'm surprised he's still standing. Besides, he nicked my senbon first; one oral fixation for another I say." Ino smiled, making a small, alcohol induced sound of amusement in the back of her throat, and wondering how she could snaffle one of his senbon away and just what he'd use to replace that oral fixation if Ino was involved...

"We did try to steal them one time when we were younger and trying to make him quit and that's how Shika broke his arm when he was fourteen. He guards them with his life! I don't know how you did it."

Genma shrugged and said modestly, "well he was very drunk."

He had known the moment he had seen Ino properly for the first time, all blonde hair and long legs, that she could be a possible partner for his nightly escapades, but he also knew that this was not the kind of girl that could fulfil that evil sexual need of his to flit from woman to woman, she seemed too...genuine for his tastes. She may have a reputation that rivalled Anko's but when she spoke she proved she was nothing like the merciless snake user - no matter how risqué the rumours surrounding Ino were or how deliciously soft her body looked or how big her big blue eyes were she still seemed to retain something of the untouchable about her, and he was in no position to change that, he thought with a wistful sigh. Besides her dad was _big_ and he imagined that anyone who messed around his little princess would feel his wrath.

Meanwhile, whilst Genma's mind was solely focused on, regardless of knowing she was out of bounds, how incredible she would look panting and sweaty and splayed across his bed, Ino's large cerulean orbs began to shift with the ever deepening silence. She searched her head again for something to say just on the off chance that last time one of her synapses hadn't been working properly: they had, nothing sprang to mind and upon further probing her mind for anything – _anything_ – to deaden the uncomfortable lull around them, her head disappointingly came up blank.

After a longer while the burning tip of the cigarette caught her eye and she was drawn by it, balancing delicately between two of Genma's fingers, resting lightly on his thigh, the burning end pointing forward. _He has real nice hands..._ Her eyes were so fixated on his hands, and then the cigarette's filter end, the point that was slight moistened as it was where his lips had been wrapped around, that when she finally realised the cigarette was being tilted her way she looked up at Genma in surprise and was met with deep chocolate brown eyes.

Neither said anything for a moment and it was such a long moment that in the end Ino began to worry that he hadn't meant to offer her the cigarette and was just holding it awkwardly, and so she didn't take it. Not that she wanted to smoke it; after being under the tutelage of an obsessive chain smoker for most of her shinobi life, she was well aware of all the consequences and aggravations of the small cancer sticks.

"Well?" he asked, his eyebrows moving up slightly in a kind of quizzical gesture, "Want some?" Her blue eyes met with his and a pleasurable shiver snaked down her back, _he had real nice eyes_. For a moment no noise came from her, no reaction at all except to stare slightly...until his forehead furrowed in a half-frown.

"Ah...n...no...I...I don't...I mean...I've never...no thanks." He narrowed his eyes and a sly, almost enlightened smile crept upon his handsome features, _she was staring at me_.

"You've never had one before have you?!" he said slightly too loudly, his words almost slurred with drunken enthusiasm. Her eyes snapped to him so quickly they almost swivelled in their sockets. If she hadn't already felt intimidated by the older shinobi when she had been sitting with a group of them earlier that night, she certainly was now. She decided to disguise this with a polite if not slightly sarcastic, "No, I'll have you know I have not."

He chuckled and took a drag of it. "Well, try it." Again the cigarette was tilted her way and she eyed it negatively. "It won't kill you," he added with an extra chuckle, "not yet, anyway."

She sighed, finally taking the burden from him in her own two fingers and swaying slightly as she tried to focus on the filter end she would have to inhale from. "You know, Genma, I would have expected more of a mature and seasoned shinobi such as yourself than to be standing outside pubs tempting young, innocent kunoichi into bad habits." An inviting smirk came over him.

"Well in that case you don't know me very well at all."

She giggled at his comment, taking the cigarette to her lips but hesitating before placing it there. "Like this?" he nodded shortly, trying not to make it obvious that he was watching her pink lips moving and imagining...unmentionable, dirty things.

Having long since resigned himself to the fate that he was attracted to her, he just allowed himself to watch as she inhaled gently on the stick, her breasts rising at the intake and slightly pushing against their restraints, white skin bulging against material borders. She took it from her lips with a thoughtful expression on her face, tasting the swirling, smoky taste, her lips poised but closed, slightly pouted as she regarded the taste...before hunching over and coughing out a great cloud of smoke.

Her splutters mingled with a dark chuckle and as she looked sideways, eyes watering from the force of coughing, she could see Genma's face twisted into giggles. She grimaced.

"Oi!" she exclaimed, hitting him lightly on his shoulder, "stop giggling at me!"

He started a little at the physical contact but managed to hide the shock as she landed another hit to his shoulder. The next one was avoided as he deftly caught her arm, drawing her eyes level to him, her feet on tip toes.

"I _never_ giggle," he said lowly, punctuating every word forcefully in mock warning.

Ino's fist clenched in...anticipation? Is that what it was? And what exactly was she expecting him to do?

She could smell the smoke and light scent of alcohol on his breath and could feel it washing over the cheek and lips: she knew exactly what she was expecting him to do, and for a moment, as his eyes glanced down to her lips, she knew he expected it too. She had never felt more intoxicated in her life and it only was partly the sake's fault. Her lips tugged gently at the corners into a hesitant smile – her consent.

'Oh god, now she's smiling?' Genma's thoughts were still resisting, he shouldn't, he really shouldn't; there were so many specific reasons he'd lain down why he shouldn't but it seemed his movements had become similarly intoxicated by the blonde temptation standing _so _close in front of him. He had suddenly become overtaken by a revelation that she really was as irresistible as he had feared she was, and swallowed a lump that seemed to obstruct his throat. Once gone he moved in, closing the distance.

Suddenly the door of the pub banged. Both pairs of eyes looked up into dark, piercing ones…_Sasuke_.

Ino jumped back despite herself. Even though she was meant to 'hate' the Uchiha, it wasn't her fault if he was one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen and tended to make her melt on sight.

_No Ino, be strong!_

Genma shuffled, suddenly uncomfortable. He knew that he wasn't going to win against the dark haired, red eyed shinobi, but then again, he thought, furrowing his brows at his own troubled thoughts, what was he expecting to get upon winning? Did it happen to have blond hair and big blue eyes? He was about to leave, thinking it was probably better for Ino to _deal_ with her once 'true love' in a way she saw fit but, seeing her alarm he stayed put. It seemed she was not happy with the situation…and neither was he, besides she was a friend now, right?

The Uchiha, having stopped, raised his eyebrows slightly at the scene below him, a scene he thought quite distasteful, as it appeared Genma was hitting on his target for the evening. Really though, it didn't matter either way if she accompanied him. It was just a little thought that prickled the back of his mind during his blond best friend's endless jibbering, and with a slightly sake filled mind that wasn't solely centred on revenge for once, he realised Ino was pretty lovely to look at.

"Off so soon," Genma smirked lopsidedly as the young man approached. His answer was a short nod but then his dark eyes narrowed.

"Are those Asuma's?" he asked, his smooth voice seeming to affect Ino in a strange way that inspired the butterflies in her stomach to flutter uncontrollably.

_Stop it_, she scolded herself, _you're just drunk!_

Genma grinned, making Ino instantly forget what she was reprimanding herself for, _he has a nice smile._

"Maybe," he answered cryptically. Ino snickered but stopped as soon as Sasuke's dark eyes swept over her, taking in the alcohol blush warming her cheeks; she looked stunning.

"Ino," he broached softly, "are you okay?" Ino didn't know what he was getting at, of course she was.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Genma did not fail to notice, even if he was slightly drunk, the way Sasuke's eyes flickered from the intoxicated kunoichi to himself with an obvious look of distrust. He knew Sasuke was 'worried' that he would take advantage of her and it made him angry because for possibly the first time in his life he was trying his _hardest_ to stay honourable towards this young woman. Genma, however, suspected Sasuke just wanted Ino for himself and a nastily possessive voice he didn't know he had hissed 'you can't have her'. He suspected that this time, even if it was the only time, it was the Uchiha, not himself, that had ill intent towards a young woman.

"You look a bit…do you want me to walk you _home_?" Sasuke stopped himself from telling her she looked drunk because that would not help in persuading her to come home with him.

Ino shifted uncomfortably, noting his tone when saying 'home' but her mind couldn't seem to fathom him at all, what he wanted, surely he didn't want…

"I'll see you get home safely…make sure you're _comfortable_." Genma bristled even though he didn't know why. He suspected it was the drink making him bold but he couldn't help but feel Sasuke was infringing on his patch right in front of him, even though he knew Ino never could, or ever would be, in 'his patch'.

Again his tone was not lost on Ino, the hint of suggestion in his voice, the slight pause before 'comfortable', it all told a tale that Ino had long since discarded as never, ever remotely plausible, but now he it seemed it was, now he wanted her, now she could help him, now…

_No!_ She pulled herself together, _someone does not turn down Yamanaka Ino for years and then expect her to just come crawling back like a...like a...like a Sakura would!_ Ino just wasn't made of the same stuff as her pink haired best friend, whose capacity for forgiveness seemed to know no bounds.

Also, she had seen the looks the Uchiha had given Sakura and although he seemed to be being _friendly_ to Ino now, she couldn't help but feel she was a second choice, in fact she knew it. Plus Genma had nice hands and eyes and smile and _oh, I like his hair too._

"That's okay Sasuke," she said a bit too politely for it not to sound strained. The silence filled the spaces between the three forms and Genma shuffled in a vain hope of lessening it.

Ino could feel those piercing dark eyes stabbing her own and kept her eyes firmly averted. In one lovely moment her blue orbs met with encouraging chocolate coloured eyes and she was thankful he hadn't gone as she immediately got caught up in them all over again…_nice eyes…_

"If you're sure," Sasuke said, forcing her to finally stay his gaze. Ino nodded mutely, unable to form words under his intense scrutiny, a girlish giddiness surfacing when she regarded that intensity.

"Well then," he reiterated again, "I'll go." He stayed rooted to the spot, however, still gazing at her, trying to stare an 'I'll go with you' into her brain and out of her mouth.

Genma coughed into the uncomfortable atmosphere in an 'okay, go away now' sort of way.

The Uchiha turned and left before he could be accused of pining. He wasn't crushed just mildly frustrated. One of the things he had been looking forward to, with mingled pleasure and distaste, since his mild taste of sexual activity whilst away from Konoha, was coming home to his fan club in the leaf village once his revenge was taken care of. That now seemed a very far off dream to him. No matter though, as being a high class shinobi had its perks and easy women often happened to be one of them.

As he vanished from sight the discomfort also seemed to dissipate – which she was acutely glad of. All the same she cleared her throat, attempting to clear any remaining anxiety from the air.

"I think he was angling for you to go with him."

Her eyes snapped up to Genma once again but this time narrowed.

"I do know that, you know!" she snapped irritably, annoyed that he was treating her like a child. With a sense of revelation Ino realised she really did not want him to think of her as a child. His malevolent little chuckle sounded again and with the sound of it came the somewhat belated relief that he had not left the scene as soon as Sasuke had come, or chances are she knew she would have ended up going home with him, despite adamantly denying she had any more childhood feelings for him.

One of Genma's eyebrows rose and she felt the feeling of something warm nudging her hand. Upon looking down she realised with a strange tingle of the hair at the base of her neck that his hand was poised ready to take the cigarette back, but feeling her freezing skin his eyebrows dropped and his face became furrowed again.

"Christ, you're like ice," he said, throwing the cigarette onto the floor and brushing it slightly with his foot before turning to her. In one surprising moment a large, unexpectedly warm, hand gripped her two, pulling them up and encasing them between his and sending a trickle of warmth down her spine as well as into her hands.

"You should have said you were this cold. You don't have to stand out here with me I..."

"No It's fine," she interrupted, immediately feeling annoyed that she'd said it too fast as his eyebrows rose slightly.

They both said nothing as he rubbed her hands within his to generate heat in them, the sound of the leaves swaying in the cold breeze picking up around them until he opened his mouth.

"I thought you liked the Uchiha?" A certainly unladylike snort found its way out of her mouth.

"Yeah, when I was twelve maybe!" Genma cast a sideways glance at the young women who was most obviously lying through her teeth; he had seen how she still stared doe-eyed at the tall dark haired man; then again so did most women so perhaps her claim was true, perhaps she had finally grown out of her childhood obsession; for some _unfathomable _reason, he hoped she had.

"What and not now?" he asked nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on his hands rubbing hers as if this too would make them warm.

She shrugged, "No, not now, when your first love turns you down that harshly there is little of the relationship left to salvage." Genma nodded thoughtfully at this but didn't know why; as if he knew anything about love, first or otherwise.

"Love?" he asked, raising eyebrows, "that's pretty heavy for a twelve year old." Ino laughed.

"Yeah, I'm constantly in that predicament." She was looking into his eyes now; he could feel them on his own but didn't dare meet their blue intensity.

"What do you mean?" he asked, attempting to keep the thickness out of his voice as the cold breeze blew her skirt up her thighs in one delicious moment of revealed flesh.

"Just...I feel like I'm always becoming far to attached to people, and generally they don't want me anyway and...I don't like it." She had never told this to anyone and now, why she was telling it to Genma, of all people, who she had never properly talked to before this night, and who probably didn't care at all, eluded her, except perhaps that the alcohol was making her bold. "Sometimes I wish...I just wish...I could be more like..." more like what? More like him? More like having mutually unemotional relationships with varied members of the opposite sex to serve a need to be close to another human being, but save her dignity and pride and above all her heart from being stung again? The answer to the end of the sentence kept resonating in her head. She had heard all the stories there were to hear about Genma from his various loose lipped (and loose moralled) exploits in the steamy confines of the bathing pools, and her attitude towards them had somewhere along the way slipped from disgust to fascination, "you."

As soon as she said it she realised how rude it must have sounded, to openly make the connection between Genma and meaningless, physical relationships, but then again he was a notorious ladies man; maybe he would be flattered? Nevertheless she attempted to reconcile the situation with a mumbled, stuttered apology, "No...I...I mean not like that...not that it's bad...I mean...it came out wrong" before she noticed he was laughing and breathed an inward turning sigh of relief.

She stared at her hands, a red blush standing out vehemently on her cheeks, and Ino _never_ blushed. She never let anybody get to her in that way, she vowed to herself she never would.

"Well, if you want to take a leaf out of my book I'd probably be in bed with the Uchiha right now", a sentence he never thought he'd say, "not standing out here with old man Genma."

"No, I don't think I could without...feeling all the old stuff again, not him. And besides its nice out here with you, you keep me..." the ending of 'amused' got lost in transit from brain to mouth and the adjective changed, still staring at their entwined hands, "warm."

Genma's eyes snapped up to her large cornflower blue ones to find them pleasantly averted, which he was glad of because that comment had dangerous sexual undertones and he had not expected it from innocent young Ino, nor had be expected the conversation to turn to her love life and even less had he expected to be discussing, even advising her, about her sex life. Perhaps she had not meant herself to suddenly become an extremely prominent sexual being to Genma, perhaps she had, he entertained for a second, but the touch of humour around her mouth revealed she was playing with him. He smirked, taking it all in his stride.

"Well you see I would never think like that." She laughed out loud at this. It was true and everyone knew it, he never got embroiled in those kinds of relationships, never with feelings of attachment and this was exactly what Ino had begun to want; she didn't want to feel so disarmed anymore.

"Oh no, that's right I'm sorry. So, what do I do now? Go back in there and grab the nearest male?"

"I'm not that desperate!" he said in mock outrage, then, seeming to realise they were holding each others gaze and holding each others hands he let his hands drop to his sides, then, feeling this was too obvious fumbled for another cigarette and lighter, then, feeling her cerulean eyes still on him took a well needed long, slow inhale of smoke, wishing he had alcohol he could guzzle down fast to help him regain some of the confidence and peace of mind she seemed to have stripped from him.

Ino watched his discomfort unhappily; her slow reflexes unable to prevent the unhappy frown on her face. She hadn't meant to do that to him, she thought, as she watched the glow of the lighter click on as his hands, shaking stiffly from what she presumed to be the cold, lit the now glowing tip of the cigarette. He took a drag on it, sighing as he exhaled from some kind of nicotine induced bliss.

The silence had spread between them again, made even more recognizable to Genma as he noticed her subtle change in posture, accompanied by the hush of the bitter wind rushing through the trees, her blonde hair stirring rebelliously from its binding, knowing that if he looked down the same stirring would be occurring to her skirt, revealing legs. He began to notice the tell tale signs of more than just attraction but genuine want creeping up his spine. He observed the girl next to him, from the flickering of her eyes to the flexing of her calf muscles. 'Stop it!' he reprimanded himself; Asuma would kill him if he interfered with his precious students and this _definitely_ counted as interference, especially since she was drunk. Before had been a momentary slip up.

And besides Ino was dangerous. She'd said she had _wanted_ to be more like him but admitted to developing strong feelings at the drop of a hat, and if the Uchiha was anything to go by then he'd be in trouble come morning. Besides, he concluded, she deserves better than a quick fumble with me for one night only, before I'm forced to drop her because she won't leave me alone, he thought of the Sasuke fiasco...no, he couldn't have that.

As he glanced sideways at the woman, seeing her large, glassy blue eyes staring at him, fairly obvious of her intent, he decided it was time to make his leave before something irreversible happened.

"Must be off," he said casually, knowing, or thinking anyway that if she were sober she'd have nothing to do with him. Tilting the cigarette towards her since he'd just lit it and didn't want to make it a permanent habit as walking home in the dark, peaceful and solitary with the warming smoke surrounding him and the familiar taste on his tongue sounded lovely, but it would kill his reputation with women, no women liked yellow fingers and teeth, not to mention the morning ritual of coughing up phlegm...needless to say it wouldn't be a hit. So no, he decided to pass it up to his new friend, _friend_, nothing else...Ino.

Ino took it without question, recognising that he was unnerved and wanted to remove himself from the situation. She did not want that; she'd decided on her first conquest as a bed hopper.

"Genma, wait," she said, a hint of drunken amusement to her voice, proving his point.

He wasn't going to stop, no, he was going home, just like he had said, now feeling extremely sober. No matter how much he may want to take her home with him - or probably more truthfully take her around that back ally first...then home - he knew he couldn't. The idea of leaving and upsetting this young woman in the morning just didn't sit well with him, besides she was around his group far too much to be able to avoid those uncomfortable post-morning meetings, usually resulting in a lot of physical pain for him.

This normally wouldn't bother him and so that's why he made the connection to Asuma. He didn't know why he was suddenly having a delayed sense of loyalty to Asuma but he just knew he couldn't 'interfere' with Ino. He remembered the one and only time he had ever commented on how much Ino had 'grown' as he rubbed the round, cigarette-tip-shaped scars on the delicate skin on the inside of his forearm. Perhaps he was walking away to prevent an even more drastic punishment.

The feel of her hands clasping around his forearms, fingers tightening over that very same scar made him jump. She was standing directly in front of him. '_Bloody persistent kunoichi'_ he thought grumpily, stopping just short of banging into her.

"Wait," she said quietly once he stopped his progression up the road.

Her hand was freezing again he noticed.

He didn't understand why she presumed so much, fair enough she had presumed correctly, he did want to sleep with her, but latching herself on to a member of the opposite sex after engaging in light banter and lingering stares before practically informing them she wanted no emotional attachment just didn't seem the right 'Ino' behaviour to him. It was so...so him.

"Listen," he said, removing her grip by her wrist, "I understand what you're getting at but really, you can't, not with me." He prepared himself for the onslaught, the accusing 'you don't want me?' or 'why? You think I'm ugly don't you!' followed by the tears and all that girly stuff but...it didn't come.

Instead her eyes were clear and blue and her wrist slipped out of his grasp and casually regained its natural position resting gently at her thigh.

"Why not?" she just asked simply.

He sighed, why not indeed. Consciences were troublesome things and he still felt like he'd be perverting some kind of purity...he tried to keep his mind from turning that into a very positive thing.

"Because, well..." every single reason left his head as he looked at her but he just managed to piece one together, "you're very young Ino."

Again instead of the response he expected he got a completely different one as her laugh filled the air.

Ino was angry upon hearing this but understood his predicament, she was just going to have to be a little more persuasive she realised.

"Come on Genma, I've seen you with younger."

"I know but they weren't _younger_ in the sense I mean." Her mouth twitched, okay, that had hit a nerve but she knew arguing wasn't going to make him comply.

"Exactly," she said, her voice low and sultry, her hand coming up to run along the collar of his shirt.

"Ino..." he said huskily, warning her to stop.

"What?" she asked with the innocence he had accused her of, now running fingers over his collar bone.

She was slightly worried that he hadn't given up yet. Sure she hadn't pulled out all the stops but his resistance, especially in this area, had caught her off guard. Why wasn't he just jumping to bed with her? In the least arrogant way she thought if she were him she would, he did this all the time, didn't he? Of course he did, she had seen him do it.

The only reason she could think of that would inspire this kind of resistance was avid threatening from her now ex-sensei. He still saw her as a young naïve Genin and so protected her as such. It had never been much of a problem before but now...

"What are you afraid of?" she asked, picking her words carefully, knowing the shinobi would immediately take against being called 'afraid', "Asuma?" she whispered, slurring the 's' slightly.

His face twisted this time, into an ugly frown. He didn't want her to think that, even if it were untrue there was a grain of truth in it that took form on his forearm.

"No!" he said quickly, adamantly, then, removed her arm from its outstretched position, trying to ignore the soft skin his hand had to travel up to finally remove her fingers.

"Then why not?" she asked in a semi-sing song voice, letting a little bit of anger show.

"Because!" he answered sharply, allowing his own frustrations too. She just stared at him, her mouth unintentionally hanging open slightly at his clear disturbance. He sighed, hanging his head, "Why do you even want this anyway?"

Ino deadpanned, had he really _not_ been listening that much?

Genma sighed. "I think you should practise a bit first before you..." he trailed off, he couldn't say that! - 'before you mess up my life like all you crazy fangirls did to Sasuke'.

"I'm not in love with you Genma," she spat, offended, "and I'm _never_ going to be either. I only want to sleep with you." She couldn't believe she had just said that and a pink blush highlighted her cheeks (second that night!). She turned away, "never mind," she mumbled, starting off down the road Genma had previously tried to escape down, feeling very foolish indeed and feeling the headache of the after effects of alcohol abuse begin to kick in prematurely.

Realising that she was angry he let out a growl of irritation from the back of his throat, knowing he would now have to remedy the situation.

"Look, Ino," he said, running to catch up until he was shoulder to shoulder to with the infuriated kunoichi strutting irritably down the road, "It's not that...I mean I'm flattered, really," it wasn't only the angry scoff from beside him that alerted him to the fact that what he had said was the worst thing he could have said. "No, I didn't mean that...Ino can you just stop for a second?"

She didn't.

_Why can't he leave me alone? _She thought, speeding up instead, _why can't he understand I'm embarrassed and just want to hide?_

"Hey! Ino!" This time he caught her shoulder in his hand and whirled her around semi-forcefully.

"Ouch! I get it Genma," Ino half snarled through clenched teeth, rubbing her shoulder "I just want to go home and sleep, I'm tired."

"You weren't a minute ago," he said, then mentally smacked his forehead for his lack of tact. "No, Ino, I didn't mean that!" He said quickly, her exasperated sigh notifying him to the fact that she'd turn tail and run if he carried on putting his foot in it. Her large blue eyes finally gave his own a chance as she stared up at him, her aggravation and embarrassment thick in the air around her, so much so that he felt like kissing her just to appease her. "Thank you," he huffed, annoyed at her stubbornness. Ino merely raised an eyebrow.

"What more do you want to say?" she asked. Genma sighed.

"Please, don't be angry with me..."

"I'm not!" she yelled exasperatedly, "I'm embarrassed!"

"Please don't be embarrassed!"

"Well I am!"

"Well don't be!"

"_Well_ I am!"

"_Well_ don't be!"

"Genma..."

"Ino!"

"Is that all you had to say?" she asked, realising this childish retort session was only making more blush stain her cheeks, her ears beginning to ring from the noisy atmosphere that had been in the pub.

"No," he sighed again but somehow Ino had no sympathy for him. "Look, its not that I don't want to..." Ino scoffed again and once more turned to run and hide in her apartment – and not come out for a year: the most shameless man in Konoha was turning her down, and had been for the last five minutes.

His hand grabbed her arm and this time it was Ino that started at the contact. His hands were large and would be otherwise smooth if it were not for the slight calluses on his palms and the contrasting texture did nothing to ease her embarrassment; both that she had asked him and that she still wanted him to say yes.

"Then what?" Ino asked quietly.

"W…well there is the Asuma element I suppose…I'm not scared of him or anything…just-"

"Just that he's warned you off me?" She gave Genma an accusatory look as if it was his fault for her ex-sensei's meddling in her private life. "Well it's easy for him to do that but he really has no business prying into my private life! This is so unfair!" She pouted overdramatically, not caring that she was acting childishly because her mark had pretty much made it clear she was getting none that night.

Genma marvelled at how cute that pout on her luscious pink lips was. Yes, it _was_ unfair, but it didn't make it any less true. Somehow, he thought vaguely, Ino wouldn't take kindly to being called innocent and so he kept his second reason quiet and to himself.

"You're a beautiful girl Ino," she noted how he had said 'girl' not 'woman' with some distaste, "but what I do…to those women," he exhaled in a sigh, now wishing he hadn't given away the cigarette that was now burning happily away safely nestled between two of Ino's fingers, "it's not nice."

Ino raised her eyebrows. "Genma I'm the one asking for the sex. Don't you think I don't know you'll be gone in the morning? I get it, I'm not going to fall in love with you," she ran a finger down his chest through his shirt, momentarily finding that her suspicions about Genma being muscular and well built were indeed true, "I just want one night…please…"

Her blue eyes really were so blue, and whether consciously or not, when she had moved forward slightly to run a tantalising finger down his chest a lovely view of her cleavage was right in his line of vision. Even her drunken, sloppy try at seduction was wonderfully…wonderful.

"Ino…" he murmured, meant to be in warning but coming out breathier than expected. He took her hand and removed it from its stationary position of being perilously close to disappearing under the waistband of his trousers. He felt that horribly base feeling stirring within him, her large blue eyes, her wonderful cleavage, her pleading him to have a night of steamy, meaningless sex with her – it was just proving too much for one, already overly licentious man to bear.

"Yes Genma?" she answered, not allowing him to take his chocolate eyes off of hers such was the intensity of those two blue oceans.

She was coming closer to him and his irritatingly lustful body was also moving closer to her. "We _really_ shouldn't," he whispered, almost against her lips, feeling the alcoholic taste resonating off both their mouths.

"No, you're right," she answered, equally as breathily as him now that she was so close to claiming her prize.

"Ino," he rasped again, his hand skirting around touching her blond hair and moving it back slightly from where it had been blown by the wind, just so he could feel its silkiness.

"Yes Genma?" she whispered back, now being so close to him that her breasts almost touched his chest. This was the moment he had to decide, he needed a clear mind but her hair, her eyes, her lips and oh god her _breasts_ were fogging his mind and intoxicating it into a state of disarray.

"Please don't tell Asuma…" and with that he grabbed the blonde kunoichi and met her lips with his.

* * *

Hmmm, does anyone like this couple or is it just me? There aren't many fics about them. Review, review! Please!!


	2. Fulfilment

Thanks for the reviews!! :) Sooo this is a chapter of smut!

**Warning: **please don't read if you'll be offened.

Review, review :D

* * *

After being slightly startled Ino finally found her bearings, also finding that his lips really were as incredible as she's thought they'd be.

He tasted of cigarettes. The smoky taste whirled in her mouth following the movements of his tongue which was doing a good job of creating a swooping trail in her mouth. In turn she was teasing him back, her own tongue tentatively reaching for his own and brushing along it with its tip. If he thought that this tentativeness was because of any innocence she may possess, which was all too possible considering his earlier back out strategies, then Ino was enjoying tormenting him immensely. He let out an anguished groan into her mouth that sounded like frustration and Ino knew it was because of her mock-innocence in kissing him back. He was fiery and passionate whereas she was careful and passive, just the up-tight little virgin he apparently _wanted_ her to be.

He pulled away and his eyes looked angry. No not angry, it wasn't anger: it was an emotion very close to it though; he knew she was teasing him.

"You are doing that on purpose right?" he asked, his voice light and lovely as he spoke. Ino didn't even need to vocalise her thoughts to confirm her answer; apparently the cheeky grin on her face gave it away as in no time at all he had begun another onslaught on her mouth, and was pushing her back and finally up against the wall of the pub gardens that jutted out just further than the pub building itself and housed the beer garden.

Ino's back hit some kind of terrace running up the wall; she could feel a sharp and uncomfortable flower sticking into her back, and so she decided to remedy the situation... She pushed herself as far as she could onto him so her breasts were flush against him, it felt incredible to be squashed in such a way, then to complete the eroticism of the position she decided to push a thigh between his, revealing the hard bulge she had expected to find there.

She was grinning again, that Cheshire cat smile that was mischievous and seductive and promised all the pleasure in the world; when she was like this he couldn't remember what had possessed him to believe she was anything other than this beautiful sex goddess that stood before him, hair mussed from where his hands and the wind had tampered with it and eyes hooded with lust and mischief: she looked good enough to eat. Incidentally this was what he intended to do, he thought with a sly grin.

In this moment of interlude from the urgent passion that had been smouldering all night Ino took time to look at him, really look at him; examining the fine detail of his face, the light stubble on his chin, the very faint scar above his left eyebrow and his brown, brown eyes. It was odd to see him without a stick in his mouth but it was kind of nice, like seeing Asuma without a cigarette or Kakashi without the mask, as if one more stone from that defensive wall that every ninja rose up around themselves had come loose and crumbled, and it had crumbled just for her.

"What?" he asked, his lips quirked at an odd angle as if trying to hide a beaming smile.

"Nothing," she said.

"You're smiling odd, I...I think I preferred that evil grin you were just-"

Ino, if only to keep up the façade of an innocent after the huge slip up of her 'evil grin', decided to shut him up, even if her method of closing his lips was less than innocent as her tongue slid over him and into his mouth, opting to massage his mouth with powerful, domineering strokes. She reached her arms up to rest around his neck and pulled him as close to her as their material barriers would allow.

"Ino," he murmured into her mouth, secretly liking the feeling of being encased in her arms and suddenly having the urge to gather conclusive proof that her breasts really were as soft and round as they appeared through her top. His hands slid to the hem of her top; tonight it was full length but still the trademark purple and she made up for the covered skin on her midriff by the length of her skirt: her skirt was _short_. As soon as his hands encountered soft toned flesh he almost groaned aloud but caught himself before he could actually show how much he was enjoying touching her without any stimulation of himself.

In truth Genma adored women, that was why he slept with so many, enjoying to manipulate their bodies into submission or dominance or whatever made them feel sexy and wanted and beautiful, he loved it when they felt that way with him; it was in those moments that he felt his dishonourable motives towards them were forgiven; it was a shame that the women themselves didn't feel that way the next morning when they awoke alone. Ino was proving very responsive to his manipulation, moaning and sliding her hands to his face to kiss him harder when his hands found her breasts under her bra.

"Genma," she sighed lightly as he encircled rosy nipples under her top. Her voice was like molten sex running through his system and down to his erection and he couldn't believe he'd never noticed just how incredibly sexy Ino was. She was taking over, her scent and her physical presence was smothering him and he wanted to be inside her. He couldn't remember a time when he'd felt this urgent during the lead up; generally he was a slow, lazy lover: of course he was thorough and precise and got the job done for both parties but he'd perfected a languorous, luxurious style of love making that sometimes even fooled _him_ that he _was_ making love and not just shagging some girl he'd picked up in a bar. It was odd, in that case, that that was almost exactly what Ino was, with a few complications such as an age difference and a fairly scary shinobi father to flavour their encounter.

"Hmm...Genma," she murmured as he re-manoeuvred them and slid a leg in between hers and left her breasts to fumble a trail down her stomach and to her hips, grinding them towards him slightly to stimulate both her feminine flesh and his growing arousal. He swore he heard a sigh of satisfaction leak into his mouth as her smirk pressed harder against his lips.

Ino adored the feel of him against her; it always made her feel good to see how she affected men, probably why she wore minimal clothing all the time. It was a dominance thing and that tingling feeling of gratification only increased ten fold as he gently took her hand and guided it to the bulge in his trousers, urging her to massage it through the material barrier that separated them. She did as he'd suggested and received a throaty moan for her effort whilst his hands, which had begun exploration in the region of her posterior, flexed, giving her rear an extra tight squeeze.

"Ino..." his voice was a half moan, half pant, "let's go..." He pulled away, not caring that a line of saliva connected their lips, even though it made Ino blush a little. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, breaking their connection, and pulled down Ino's top that had become skewed during his groping. When he finally met Ino's eyes he gave her a cheeky grin; it was boyish and happy and...completely unexpected. She felt no one had ever been _happy_ whilst having sex with her, well they had, kind of, but 'happy' wasn't really the word she'd use, more urgent and unrestrained which she suppose amounted to being happy, right? And that wasn't to say urgent and unrestrained was a bad thing! Well...except perhaps for a first time, and then a shaky second or any time really that a guy decides that sex ought to last five seconds then asks 'did you come?' – no she didn't thanks.

He pulled her away from the wall, out into the open streets of Konoha then quickly off into the night down a street that she only knew as leading to her childhood home and away from her apartment. She got panicked, 'oh god,' she thought, 'what about my father? What if he sees us?' Her Dad had never been good with anyone with the potential to corrupt his daughter and Genma wasn't just anyone.

"W...wait!" she said, gripping onto Genma's arm to stop him. He stopped and turned but Ino could see he was itching to get indoors and his bottom lip was held innocently between his teeth as if without a senbon between them they were quite at a loss, as he contemplated not having Ino after all the motivation she had given.

"W-what's wrong?" he said, quickly, using the same jittery, unsure tone Ino herself had used.

"My place," was all she said.

"Why?"

"Because my parents live down there what if they...I mean I'm not ashamed or anything just...he might..." Genma contemplated this. There was no way in hell he wanted to get beaten up by an irate Yamanaka and so he conceded, allowing Ino to pull him her way.

"Is it far?" he asked, interlocking Ino's fingers with his and giving them a squeeze to emphasize his need for haste. She just shook her head, intent on the trail to her small one bedroom apartment which she hoped she'd made look at the very _least_ respectable.

* * *

As they neared the apartment it seemed Genma couldn't wait because they'd barely even made it up the stairs and he was spinning her around and pushing her up against the nearest wall, his hands cupping her rear under her skirt.

"Genma...we're...almost...there- ooh!" Her sentence was punctuated by his kisses and finally his hand slipping into her underwear.

"It was taking too long," he whined against her hair.

"Genma," she growled threateningly as his fingers parted her lips and ghosted over her entrance.

"What?" he asked, all sweetness and light, as it he hadn't just slipped a hand under her skirt and as if his fingers weren't delving into her underwear.

She was soft and warm and wet and that was just about all Genma could comprehend of the situation.

"Genma anyone could – oh! – " again she was cut off by his attentions as his index finger followed the trail up to the top of her sex and found the small bundle of nerves situated there _and _it was then that he decided to suck on her jaw, bestowing small kisses and nips as he went. "Gennmmaa," she whined as he encircled the small nub of pleasure and raked the hand that had been on her rear through her long blonde hair.

"What," he rasped again in that infuriating angelic tone that he apparently just loved to use with her.

A moan was his answer and her face was such an array of lust and pleasure that he was surprised when he felt her hands clambering up to his hair and pulling him by his brown strands to lock lips with her, where she imparted all of her moans and groans and whimpers directly into his mouth and, unbeknownst to her, down his spine and directly to his groin, although she could probably have guessed since it was pressing insistently into the soft skin just above the V of hair between her legs.

"Let's go inside," she murmured, "Genma?" As she spoke his name she placed a hand on the hard length in his pants and felt him tense before turning jelly-like against her.

"Hmm, yeah, do that," he hissed but then she was pulling away and rasping in his ear;

"Come _inside_ and you'll get plenty more." It was more than enough to get him moving.

They were in, pulling each others clothes of and stumbling towards the bed in what felt like half a second.

Their lips were together but with all the clothes flying everywhere and with their tops being flung over their heads they were having to break their kiss, if it could be called a 'kiss': it was more like they were slobbering on each other's mouths when they got the chance, it wasn't skilled or tender, nor was it inexperienced or unpleasant, it was just messy, but fun.

When they fell on the bed they naturally gravitated to a position where Genma was on top and he surprised Ino by holding her arms to the mattress when she tried to lift them to touch his chest, rippling muscles gleaming with sweat and probably saliva. He kissed her once, his eyes all mischief and cheekiness as he dipped his head and caught a pink tipped breast in his mouth.

She strained against his hands and moaned as his tongued encircled the areola. Despite it being a cliché he really _was_ good with his mouth. The skim of his tooth against the sensitive peak had Ino's head lolling back and more pronounced sounds of her ecstasy permeated the hot air. One of his hands moved off her wrist and followed the curve of the other neglected breast pulling and pinching until Ino felt that he surely must be able to feel the heat and moisture burning from between her legs against his chest.

He did. And he liked it.

Her breasts were a nice size he decided as his tongue sought the skin underneath her them, but his hands, two now, continually brought moans and sighs from the blonde by manipulating her sensitive skin, now hard under the calloused pads of his fingers.

Somewhere in amongst the pleasure Ino wondered where he was going. Why was he going down? Shouldn't he be coming back up again? She wasn't clueless about sex and sure, she was aware that by sliding down her body there was many number of things he _could_ be doing to her but her only encounters with sex so far had been rather...uneventful, but that was why she'd asked Genma wasn't it?

"W...what are you doing?" she asked as he dipped lower still, passed her breasts, tongue trailing lazily over her ribcage. Uncertainty curled in her stomach, she knew she sounded stupid and naïve for even _asking_ this question and so when his face came up and she was once again faced with the predicament of two chocolate eyes staring at her she shrugged back slightly at the hunger in them.

"Ino," he asked slowly, looking surprisingly attentive all of a sudden, "have you ever had sex before?"

Ino's brows immediately furrowed and she went on the defensive at once.

"Of course I have," she huffed indignantly to the man between her thighs, "why would I be doing this if I hadn't?"

"I don't know, maybe you're tired of being a virgin?"

"I'm _not_ a virgin!" she groused.

"Well then you should know what I'm doing Ino, besides I'm a very considerate man and I like my women _hot_ and _ready_." The shivers that overtook her spine were incredible and he felt her thighs quiver slighter under his body. She was so ridiculously sensitive. "How many people have you had sex with?" he asked, curious suddenly. She was nowhere near the raving sex kitten that some had painted her out to be.

"Three," she answered quietly, then, to the mischievous gleam in his eye said "no, I'm not going to ask you! You beat me no doubt?"

"No doubt," he said giving that cheeky, happy smile again. He went back to work after that, lowering his lips to her stomach where his tongue dipped into her belly button and Ino held back a mewl as she thought he might stop and interrogate her again. Thankfully, his fingers were now holding her thighs as his tongue worked and that odd feeling was gone.

All of a sudden Genma slid his hands under her thighs and lifted them slightly so her knees were bent. "Nice," he murmured, eyeing her gleaming sex.

Ino found it all kind of funny, she didn't think anyone had ever stared at her down there so intently, not even when she got her annual physical, and certainly no one had looked at her with that longing, lost-puppy-dog look that graced Genma's face as she tilted herself to view the sight of the muscled shinobi with his arms looped around her thighs and face ready to...oh no, oh god! He was going to do _that_!

"W...wait, Genma! Just...Genma, Gen...ma, oh! Genma!" and by the time she'd finished speaking his tongue was delving as far into her folds as it could go, tasting and licking and sucking. Once he was sure of her acquiescence he looked up at her, all mussed hair and flushed cheeks, and smirked whilst licking his lips malevolently. She'd looked up when his tongue had stopped and the sight of him with his hands planted one on each thigh and his mouth quirked to side as if it were in need of a senbon to balance between his lips made heat pool between her legs, he was an image of careless confidence and raw sexuality and she was _so_ glad she'd persevered in getting him into bed earlier that night.

"You know if you're going to get into this one-night stand business your going to have to get used to men doting on your body, you're a beautiful woman Ino."

"Hmm," was all she could manage but inside she was whimpering 'Genma just called me beautiful!'

His tongue was back and it was on her clit, circling and flicking and sucking and it was driving her _insane_. She'd received oral sex once before and it was...well it had served its purpose but this felt as if Genma's tongue was burning hot and it was silky, not slimy and what made her crazy was that he was swirling it so lazily that it felt like he was hardly putting any effort in, except her legs were twitching involuntarily and her inner muscles were spasming sporadically around his tongue when he dipped it into her sex. And then she felt his hands, heavy and dry, sliding down the smooth and sensitive skin on the inside of her thigh and placing her legs over his shoulder so her feet rested on his back, and when he did this one of his hands continued until it reached the apex of her legs, where his tongue was, and began gently thumbing her clit whilst his tongue went south and found her entrance. He drew back for a second, eyeing the dripping sight in front of him with the educated eye of a professional before delving his tongue fully into her. She gasped so harshly in her throat that it actually hurt; it felt like he was kissing her down there: Ino didn't really know what he was doing; she didn't really care at that moment. Her hands found their way to something silky and delightful to grab and pull and so she did and as pleasure peaked and hit she pulled and pulled, whimpers and words falling from the lips, what was she saying? She didn't know, caring was so far away from her now.

She was panting one moment then the next she was pulling out his hair and crying out for him to 'keep going' and informing him that 'oh god it feels good'. _Thanks Ino_, he thought, _but you're giving me a headache. _Genma had found out that night that trying to extract your hair from the fingers of an orgasming woman was no mean feat, and the more his fingers tried to coax her hands to let the _hell_ go the more it felt she was tightening her grip. She finally relaxed and was whimpering out incoherent sentences that had 'Genma' in the middle of them.

He slithered up the bed and lay next to her, observing her body as she took in heaving breaths.

"You know," he said rubbing his sore hair follicles, "you could have told me you were a hair puller."

Ino couldn't say anything because what did you say after someone had done something _that_ amazing? 'Thank you' didn't really seem to cut it from her point of view and so she just focused on breathing, which was a job in itself.

"I didn't know," she breathed at last.

"You're very pretty when you orgasm," he said, grinning slyly and shadowing her body with his elbows propping him up above her shoulders.

"Thanks," she said, smiling a smile that exactly echoes his, "I didn't know that."

He kissed her lips, twirling a strand of blonde hair around his fingers. He looked down briefly, "You're a natural blonde," he announced, smiling, "I knew it!" She swatted him on the arm.

Then she looked at him, her eyes full of renewed mischief, much like his had been earlier. Genma looked at her funnily, trying to predict her next move.

"Ino?" he asked tentatively just before she pounced, knocking him on his back and straddling his stomach so that his tip was pressed against her rear through the fabric of his underwear. His hands came up to her sides, smoothing her skin under his fingertips. She leant down, "I want to be on top," she said, long fingers splaying across his tight abdomen.

She was like a dream with tousled blonde hair and a roguish twinkle in her eye. Genma smirked but as she reached back to remove his underwear a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Er - where's my coat?" he asked suddenly.

"Your coat? W-why?" Genma slid his hands up her thighs as he sat up.

"Lift up," he murmured, sliding out from under her and setting off in search of his clothing.

"You're not going are you?" she asked, kneeling up on the covers of her bed and watching as Genma came back into her peripheral carrying the elusive clothing item. He reached into the pocket of his green jounin vest and pulled out a small square packet: condoms.

"Oh," was all she could say.

"Yes, 'oh'," he replied, smirking at her and returning to the bed. She took it off him and set it down, turning back and teasing the skin above the waistband of his boxers with her nails. She lifted her lips to kiss him, her fingers sinking beneath the waistband and slowly slipping the material down.

"I always wondered what jounins kept in that pocket," she said against his lips. She could feel more than see Genma's smirk, his hands running up and down her sides.

"Lie back," he whispered, pushing on her shoulders slightly. She conceded but as soon as she was on the mattress she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I want to be on top!" He quirked an eyebrow.

"In a minute, we're not there yet."

"Not where yet?" she asked. He smiled and bent down to kiss her skin.

"You'll know when we're there," he whispered.

"You are so cliché," Ino laughed, Genma smirked.

"I'm not cliché I'm debonair."

"Uh-huh?"

"Yeah."

"Sleeping with a girl for one night only is debonair?"

"You asked for it," he said, looking into her clear blue eyes.

"Yeah, I did." He kissed her, if only to shut her up; after all, they were almost _there_.

Ino suddenly became aware of a hot presence between her parted thighs and it made her eyes snap open. She found his chocolate eyes opened, looking at her with an enquiring expression.

"Are you ready?" he asked, breaking the kiss. She nodded, bringing their lips together again and sliding her hands down to his hips in a vain attempt to control the movement.

Genma, still unable to shake the idea of Ino being a sensitive, naïve innocent – especially since he'd rolled on the condom and caught her staring at his erection with a mixture of fascination and what appeared to be fear - decided to take it slow and it was _killing_ him. His head probed her entrance and he felt her stiffen slightly.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Yes!" she hissed, "Just _do_ it already! I won't break!" So he did.

She was hot, inside and out but as soon as he was confronted by the heat his mind stopped working.

Ino had had sex before but never like _this_. She could feel him sliding against her inside her and it was like nothing she'd ever experienced.

"Ino, Ino, oh fuck Ino!" Genma was murmuring against her shoulder, seeming to vocalise her sentiment, "You're so fucking _tight_!" His words burned into her abdomen and only made her tighten around him more. For Genma this was standard dirty talk, it was hardly fetish just yet, but he'd never meant the words more than right then at that moment. He couldn't help the string of obscenities falling from his lips and if Ino minded she didn't say anything, but she _was_ digging her sharp nails into his back, though Genma suspected this wasn't out of reprimand for his words.

"We're there," she breathed into his hair, he moved to look at her but couldn't answer so he just chuckled against her lips.

He set a steady pace against her and encouraged her movement by his hands on her hips.

"I want to be on top," she panted as he thrust into her.

"Why?" he gasped.

"Why not?" she countered.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes as they rolled over, "what the princess asks..."

"Wait – don't call me princess," she said, stilling and achieving her balance by placing her hands on his chest, which by now was heaving with the strain of holding back.

"Why?"

"My father calls me princess."

"Oh...fair enough. No more talking," he panted his hands again finding her hips and moving them into a rhythm that soon had them both moaning.

Ino's hands were clenching onto his bare chest, fingers lightly scratching the muscles on his shoulders. He was making her feel so amazing and the little moans that kept falling from his lips were only stoking the fire in the stomach until she was so tightly wound that she felt she'd crumple if release didn't come soon.

"Genma," she moaned, her head tipping forward and resting on his hard chest. She felt his hands on her back, caressing each vertebra as his fingers encountered them. She began to move faster on him, whimpering at each thrust. She couldn't comprehend thought or sound, she lost understanding of what Genma was murmuring to her as he neared release, all she could do was feel.

Genma could feel her tightening. She was whimpering 'Genma' but he wasn't entirely sure she knew she was. In return he was moaning back to her, full of curse words interspersed with her name. When her orgasm hit it drew him in too, the contraction of her muscles and the immense heat that dripped from her core and onto him pushed him over and the pleasure sparked at his groin and spread through his stomach. He opened his eyes, trying desperately to watch Ino as she came again but the sight of her on top of him, head rolled back, mouth open and blonde hair cascading out behind her was too much and sent new spurts of pleasure from his sensitive body.

He felt her weight on him, collapsing onto his chest and eventually they lay together, in a tired heap on the bed. The room was quiet save for their harsh breathing until a laugh penetrated the air; it was breathy and punctuated by gasping breaths but it was a laugh all the same.

Genma eventually managed to roll from under her and looked her way enquiringly.

"What...what...are you...laughing at?" he panted.

"I don't know," she said, spreading her limbs out on the bed. He removed the hair stuck with sweat to her face then rested his hand on her chest above her heaving breasts. "You're fairly pretty when you orgasm too," she said, still gasping in breath.

He turned over onto his side. "I'm never pretty," he said with a pout.

"Oh no?"

"No, I'm manly and handsome." Ino laughed.

"Ok if you want."

"What do you mean 'if I want'?"

"I mean I still think you're pretty."

"I ain't pretty!" Ino giggled. "Why did you want to be on top?" he asked. Ino visibly stiffened; she obviously didn't like the question.

"I just wanted to," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because!"

"That's not an answer."

"I don't want to answer," she pouted childishly.

"You think that cute pout's going to let you off?" he raised an eyebrow, "Come on, Ino I want to know. Is it like a dominatrix kink?"

"No!"

"Then what?"

" ...well you see...the only time I've ever...come...was when I was...on top," she mumbled.

"You thought I couldn't make you come if you were on bottom?" he asked, suddenly sitting up and staring at her as if she'd just told him that he was the new Hokage.

"No! I didn't mean it like that just..."

"Just what?"

"I wanted this to be...really, really good and I thought that if I didn't...you know...then it would be awkward and...well...no one likes to feel bad in bed and – "

"I could make you come if you were on the bottom!" he said defensively.

"I know, but I just wanted to be sure, that's why I...Oh forget it, look just forget it, please," she placed a consoling hand on his chest.

"No, I will not! I don't know who the fuck you had sex with before but they must have been crap!" He picked up her hand and kissed each individual finger, then proceeded to take each one into his mouth in turn. "You're going to regret you told me that," he hissed, a playful gleam over taking his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" she said, taking up his challenge and allowing her body to be knocked back onto the mattress. He crawled over her like a predator.

"Yeah, you will."

* * *

Ino awoke to the sound of someone trying, none too quietly, to sneak around her house picking up articles of clothing. She opened her eyes to see the back of a tall, muscled shinobi standing in the doorway of her bedroom with a pair of trousers in his hands, looking around the room seemingly puzzled about something.

Down the bed a pair of boxers was tangled up in the bed sheets, she retrieved them from their position and threw them at his back.

"You looking for those, sugar?" she asked, stretching out her limbs luxuriously on the bed.

He turned slowly, warily and took her in, gauging her reaction to what they did the night before. She was spread on the bed as if she were queen of Konoha, smiling a smile of deep content: the smile of a satisfied woman. Genma grinned.

"Well don't you look like the cat who got the cream," he said, bending down to pick up the item from the floor. Ino shrugged.

"I did get the cream, several times, actually, and now I'm tired so go about it more quietly," she grumbled, well only half grumbled. The sight of a naked Genma in the morning did tend to lessen the aggravation.

"Sorry," he whispered, slipping on his boxers and coming round to sit on the bed.

"You know you didn't have to get up so early to sneak away, Genma," she said, reaching out to touch the tightly corded muscle of his pectoral, "I really _do_ understand this philandering stuff." He grinned at her.

"I've got work," he whispered, bending over her to kiss her sleepy mouth.

"You got ANBU work?" she asked, kneeling up to kiss him properly. He nodded. "You got sexy uniform work?" he laughed and nodded again as her hands came up to his face while his went down and explored the skin of her back and stomach. "Then I guess you better go save the world," she sighed onto his lips.

"Um-hum," he hummed into her. "You make a good argument to stay though," he said, pulling away from her. She smiled, watching as he got up and struggled into his trousers.

"Thanks, Genma," she said quietly, not looking at him but examining her hands that were twisting the sheets in her lap. He looked up at her tone.

"No problem," he said, tugging his shirt on, "it's not like it wasn't a two way enjoyment."

"I know, just, it was really nice," she looked up, "I never do this so it was nice to do it with someone like...like you." He smiled.

"I think that was a compliment?" She nodded, grinning at him. "In that case, anytime." He finally zipped up his jounin vest and turned to look at her, a figure of beauty with tangled hair and a sleepy expression, curled up in white sheets, for all her rampant behaviour the night before she looked as pure as an angel. "You don't feel...like...dirty do you?" Ino contemplated it for a moment then shook her head.

"Nope," her smile suddenly faded, "that's a good thing right? I mean what we did wasn't wrong it was just...just..."

"It was just different for you, lots of people do it. Anko does it all the time and everyone still loves her." Ino quirked an eyebrow.

"Define everyone?"

"Well you know what I mean." He moved across the room to her and kissed her forehead, "I'll make a heat-breaker out of you yet, Ino."

* * *

Sorry for mistakes! I've got exams so no time to properly proof read!

Sooo, review! Should I continue with it? I kinda want them to fall in love :) Tell me! Review! x.


	3. Progression

Chapter 3! I hope it's okay!

**Warning: **this one's got naughty language in, so be careful.

* * *

Ino had unconsciously decided when Genma left that she'd stay in bed all morning until she had to go to work at the hospital in the evening. She had fallen asleep again with her nose shoved in the pillow Genma had been using evidently, because it smelled of a foreign body and silky brown hair. She also thought, as she lay in a sleepy daze, that it must have been the source of the strange dream she'd had that she was in ANBU with Genma, but her ANBU vest was bright pink and stuffed with blue condoms.

She was _sure_ that something had woken her up, some noise, or gust of wind, or something but she found she couldn't concentrate on thinking about it, she was thinking about Genma.

_It was just sex and it was easy. Having sex is easy and there's no need to complicate it._ She was watching the leaves on the tree outside her window flutter as she gave herself a pep talk. _I like Genma but I don't _like_ him and that's okay because it's just sex._

In truth Ino was quite worried about what she was feeling. She'd prepared herself for the possibility of feeling strange and perhaps dirty – like Genma suggested – but instead she found herself feeling kind of guilty, and surprisingly the guilt was centred around her senbon-chewing partner. She couldn't help feeling like she'd screwed him over, she had, but he'd done it to her, and _really_ neither had done it to the other because it was an agreement between them. It was sex, it was _just_ sex, but Ino still was having a hard time getting her head around the idea of '_just_ sex'.

Sex had always been important to her, and even thought the majority of her encounters with it had disillusioned her, it still couldn't outweigh the fact that she'd been a romantic since the age of eleven - how could she not be when she worked in a flower shop? – and now she was finding it difficult to morph sex into something physical and entirely separate from romantic feelings. She had no romantic feelings for the man who she'd had the best sex of her life with. It confused her.

She quickly dismissed all thoughts about Genma when she _definitely _felt a cold gust of wind sweep across her. She could _definitely_ hear people talking and moving around now, and with a pang of panic she realised that the people must be in her apartment. She sat up, eyes fixed on the door.

"Ino, coming in!"

"Stop, oi! Wait!" She only _just_ had time to clutch the sheet to her chest before the door opened and the two other members of her team bounded in.

"Yo...oh..."

"What're you doing in bed?" Ino couldn't speak. She was naked and now she was angry, and the two boys she'd grown up with were standing in her bedroom on the morning after she'd been added to the conquest list of _Shiranui Genma_!

"Choji! Shika! Get out!"

"Ino...are you naked...?"

"Oh for god's sake, out!" This time they conceded, but not after Choji had stared wide eyed at her for another minute and Shikamaru had slapped his hands over his eyes. _Thanks Shikamaru_, she thought, shaking her head at his immaturity, _and to think I thought I was in love with _him!

Once she was alone again she hid her face in her hands; she didn't fancy explaining to them why she was naked in bed when it was almost midday, so much for her free morning in bed.

"Shikamaru...was Ino naked?" Shikamaru hopped up onto the counter in Ino's kitchen and smirked at his dazed friend. "Wh...why was she naked?"

"She's naked, she's got a messy bed, bruises all over her neck and a condom packet on the floor...you really want me to answer that?"

"But she doesn't have...she's not seeing anyone!"

"So?" Choji looked horrified.

"You mean she's...no, Ino wouldn't do that!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes; the last time Choji had reacted like this he had been thirteen and he'd finally realised Ino had breasts, and it suddenly struck him that she had other parts of the female anatomy. He'd been stunned; Ino was not one of the guys anymore, she was a...she was a girl, a _proper_ one!

"What's the problem? She's a big girl."

"No she's not! She's Ino! She's little blonde Ino! How are you not freaking out about this?"

"Choji, she's a twenty year old woman, she can take care of herself, and besides she's using protection." Choji huffed, as if that made it any better, he thought.

Ino swept out of her bedroom with a towel clutched to her chest, even though she was wearing a purple, fluffy dressing gown and a big scowl on her face, and stalked into the bathroom.

"She's very angry; do you think she was screwed over?" This was Shikamaru. Choji glowered murderously and said:

"If she has, I don't care who _he_ is, I'll _kill_ him."

* * *

At that stage of late morning '_he'_, being Shiranui Genma, was traipsing through the biggest swamp he had ever had the displeasure of traipsing through, with a grouchy pout on his face. His beautiful, 'sexy', had-been-freshly-cleaned-that-morning ANBU uniform was splattered with foul smelling sludge _and _he couldn't get a senbon through his porcelain mask, which was firmly in place in a vain attempt to lessen the smell of marsh. He was miserable.

Genma was doing what he always did when he wanted to cheer himself up – well not _exactly_ what he usually did because he was not in bed with a beautiful women, but he took thinking about them as a happy compromise in his situation. In particular he was thinking about Ino, who he'd left warm and content in her bed before he'd ran to the ANBU headquarters to obtain his uniform and weapons from his locker, ogled at the half-naked women he had stuck to his locker door as he changed, gone and spoken to those lovely _facilitating_ ladies in ANBU admin to get the mission file and finally crash out on the sofa's in the overnight on-call room.

As he had entered said room, however, he encountered someone who he had hoped to avoid for at _least_ a few days: Inoichi Yamanaka. The blond was asleep in an armchair with a paper over his face and to Genma's dismay the first ironic thought that slipped into his mind was that he looked less like a friend and comrade and more like a...like a father. Genma despaired, how could one night with Ino change people like this?!

_Don't think about it_, he told himself, sure that it was juts a fleeting thought and had nothing to do with Ino besides, Genma conceded, he was closer to Inoichi's age than he was to Ino's. _Actually, how old is Ino? _He was sure she'd told him but he couldn't quite recall the conversation. He remembered the sex, vividly, but the rest seemed to be caught up in an alcohol haze.

He opened the file on his lap and checked out the mission procedure: it was the standard mission, with the standard good luck message from the dear Hokage scrawled across the top - _I want his perfect, if you screw it up you're all on D rank_: find, observe, steal, go home – no infiltrations, (hopefully) no killings. Easy. Two teams of three. Team A, the observation team: Kotetsu for tracking, Raidou as the resident ANBU and Ibiki in case things went wrong. Team B, the stealing team, consisted of Izumo for tracking, Genma as the resident ANBU and Inoichi in case things went wrong. _Ugh,_ Genma groaned, _great, a mission with Inoichi - _though at least he could be thankful that Asuma wasn't going.

So far on the mission they'd tree hoped further north and finally arrived where the greeny vegetation of the fire country met the wetness of Rain mixed with heat from Suna creating deep, stinking marshes, like the one they were wading through.

They'd decided that although no infiltration of the target enemy compound was required in the mission dossier it would be easier, especially since they had Inoichi's mind manipulation skills, for one team (which Ibiki had imperiously chosen himself after disregarding the recommended teams from the mission instructions) to pose as rouge travellers, get into the compound as minions, steal the artefact then get out all in one day, and so to keep up the pretence of travellers they could use chakra but not perform anything ostentatious in case the lord's rule spread as far as the marsh. The only problem still to overcome: where _exactly_ was this war lord's base?

"Stop!" Ibiki called out, just as they approached a forest that had begun to crawl into view on the left. Everyone stopped. "Right, it's time to split up, Izumo and Kotetsu you go and find where the compound is." He pointed to the forest.

"He's not the leader," Raidou grumbled from somewhere behind Genma, and Genma turned and smirked at him. He was just grumpy because he was one of the ones going undercover and to do this, from the forest on, he'd have to wade through the marsh chakra-less; Ibiki, the self- proclaimed leader, had a cruel regime.

"We need shelter and wood, Genma and I'll go and find shelter but you two've got to keep up the appearance of travellers," he turned to Inoichi and Raidou.

"Can't we be ninja travellers?" Raidou whined, even as he took a travellers cloak out of his pack, understandably not warming to the idea of trudging through the putrid marsh without chakra to aide his steps.

"Nope," a grin of sadistic pleasure spread across Ibiki's face. Raidou sighed. "no chakra. Oh and when you get to land look out for some branches for a fire." A general nod of fatigue and disillusion went round. "And keep your radios on so you know the location of the meeting point." Another nod. Kotetsu and Izumo flickered out of view, moving away so fast from the murky swamp that they immediately became one with the wind.

"Come on then, kid," Ibiki said, deftly stepping on top of the marsh. Genma scowled he was _not_ a kid! "We've got to be quick, I want to put as much distance as possible between us and them," he said, gesturing to a sulking Raidou and Inoichi.

* * *

"So, what the hell do you want?" Ino snarled as she emerged from her bedroom, dressed and running a brush though her long, wet hair.

"We were wondering if you wanted to get some barbeque with us," Choji answered in a small voice. _Oh, damn I'm a bitch,_ she thought, feeling immediately guilty.

"Oh, yeah, of course I do," she said grumpily (but only because she was feeling guilty) "what's the-" as she spoke her eyes wondered absently to the calendar that hung on the wall, underneath yesterday's date she had scribbled 'Choji gets jounin' then a smiley face. Ino squealed, looking at Choji with wide eyes. "Y-you passed!?" Choji nodded proudly, which made Ino squeal again and Shikamaru cover his ears, murmuring 'troublesome'.

"I wanted to tell you last night but Sakura said you were at the pub and we couldn't find you anywhere." he said, struggling to stop gravity from affecting him as Ino hurled herself at him and began squeezing him.

"I'm so proud of you! Oh my god yes, we have to go out!"

"Exactly," came Shikamaru's lazy voice as he took out a lighter and lit the cigarette that was dangling from his lips.

"Oi! Not in the house!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"You're exactly like my mother, you know that?" he grumbled as he got off the counter.

"I'll be two minutes" she said, disappearing back to her bedroom and drying her wet hair. When she'd left the room Choji's smile fell.

"She smells of man," he said, grimacing.

"Che, you're imagining it, she's just had a shower." Shika said, lighting his cigarette anyway. Choji passed him a disgusted look.

"At least she didn't stink of fags though," he said. Shika just shrugged, arguing with Choji – with _anyone­_ – was just too troublesome.

* * *

Choji was definitely looking at her funny.

"What's wrong?" she asked politely as he stuffed a chopstick full of barbeque beef into his mouth.

"Nothing," he mumbled through his food. Thankfully Shikamaru was acting the same as usual, relaxing back in his chair and staring out of the window.

"Will you pay attention," Ino scolded, jabbing him in the ribs with her chopsticks.

"Ouch, I am! You don't have to be so violent."

"He's alright, he's just thinking about sand nins with blonde hair and dark eyes, aren't ya, Shika?" Shika huffed. _Ouch_, Ino thought,_ it's not that I like him anymore but...stupid fucking Temari, she's stealing him!_

"Bathroom," she said and got up, sweeping from the table into the bathroom.

"Choji do you have to do that?"

"What?"

"Well she's hardly Temari's number one fan, is she?" Choji shrugged.

"Looked like she was over you this morning," he said snidely. Shikamaru sighed.

Ino braced her hands on the sink and looked in the mirror. _I don't get it! I'm blonde! I've got blue eyes! I'm a kunoichi! I'm everything that _she_ is!_

She ran the taps and washed her hands when another woman walked into the toilets, just so it looked like she was doing something other than pining after a boy...again.

The woman smiled awkwardly and the two engaged in the time honoured 'women-in-toilets' dance where each tried to study the other in the mirror without the other seeing. The woman was familiar and Ino wondered, as she watched her lean forward over the sinks and apply a deep red lip gloss, where she had seen her before. Then it struck her, she was from ANBU admin; Genma had...with _her!_ A shiver of delayed self-consciousness slunk down her spine. This woman was...well she was a woman; next to her Ino felt like a little girl, even at the sinks in the woman's toilets at the barbeque place. Also she was pretty, with dark, dark hair and dark, dark eyes and now ruby red lips.

"You want to borrow it?" she asked, holding the lip gloss out to her.

"Oh...no, I was just...it's a nice colour." The woman shrugged.

"Yeah it is, but I would stay to pinks if I were you, reds tend to wash blondes out, especially with your skin tone." Was that an insult or not? Ino had no idea, she just watched in stunned silence as the woman dried her hands and walked out of the toilet.

_Weird._

She was exiting the ladies when a body collided with hers and the force drove her back against the wall of the narrow corridor. She hit the wall with a 'ugh' and cursed under her breath, _not my day!_

"Aw – oh, hey." Ino looked up, her glare faded: brown hair, very blue eyes, (then surreptitiously down) ninja..._nice_. "You're Ino, yeah?" _Oh crap I have no idea who he is._

"Yeah," she answered, slightly dazed, he was _pretty_. He was looking at her expectantly and it unnerved her.

"Ya healed me last week?" Ino wracked her brains for any former memory of those blue eyes. "Concussed ANBU captain?" Oh, that would explain it; she probably didn't _see_ his eyes. "Jirou," he said, holding his hand out to her. She shook it, staring at their joined hands slightly stunned.

"I – er – sorry, last week was a long week." He laughed, that was a good sign.

"Yeah, for me too," he said smiling and Ino immediately realised the ridiculousness of her telling this man - this _ANBU captain_ - who'd been in hospital with _concussion_ that she had had a long week. "So, I was wonderin'," _oh my god he's going to ask me out, the ANBU captain is asking me out! _"I was wonderin' if you were busy tonight?" Her immediate thoughts were _hell no I'm not busy! _But looking over his shoulder she saw Choji glaring daggers at his back, plus he wasn't just ANBU, he was a captain, and they weren't known for their honourable principles when females were concerned, but, she was a player too now, right? Maybe it was a good thing?

"Er – I'd really love to but my friend just passed the jounin exams so...I think we're doing something special."

"Oh." Suddenly Genma's voice popped into her head, 'Ino what the hell? You're a heart breaker now! Do it, go out with him!' Yes, that's what he'd say but she was split; part of her wanted to stay and celebrate with Choji and make Shika forget _that_ Sand girl, but the other part of her was imitating Genma and speaking to her in her head which she supposed amounted to part of her wanting to go out with Jirou. "Are you sure? Then some other time? I'll treat ya good," Ino looked at him, amused, his tone was youthful and teasing and he had a funny lackadaisical accent, he definitely got marks for that "I'll take ya dancin'."

"Hm, I do like dancing,"

"And I'll take ya home afterwards, back by midnight." She happened to glance over to her table to see Choji watching the pair closely, eyes alert for any untoward movement her new friend might make, but Shika? He was sitting back in his seat, staring out of the window at the clouds thinking of..._URGH!_ _I'm so going to do this!_

"And then...we'll take it from there?" Ino murmured, flirting shamelessly now she'd decided it was this ninja's lucky day...night. _Genma would be proud._ The man was taken aback but then he smirked sexily.

"What the princess wants, the princess gets," Ino was stunned for a moment, remembering Genma from the night before, before smiling. "But not tonight right?" he said, immediately back to business, "because I was thinkin' tomorrow there's a big party planned for the new jounins and ANBU recruits and I was thinkin' maybe I could take you? Then we can see about this 'takin' it from there' you were talkin' about." _A party, eh?_

"That sounds tempting, yeah, okay,"

"Pick ya up at seven, yeah?"

"Okay," he turned to leave.

"Wait, don't you want to know where I live?" He smirked,

"I'm ANBU, I'll figure it out," he said, apparently unable to resist slipping that fact into the conversation one last time, he winked and was off. Ino watched him manoeuvre the tables and exit the building. _Well, that was successful._

"Who was that?" Choji all but demanded as Ino sat down at the table.

"Hm? Oh just a friend," she said absently, sipping her drink though the straw. "Hey guys...do I look like a princess?"

Shika snorted.

* * *

Much later that day and about ten miles away from the boarder with Sand, six Konoha jounin sat in a dry forest with a fire burning in the middle; it was male bonding time. They were a strange group, all ages and characteristics, but ANBU had a way of forming bonds in the strangest of places: even the reclusive Copy nin and the sadistic interrogator couldn't resist the lure of ANBU team bonds. It didn't matter if you'd been on one mission with someone or one thousand, if it was an ANBU mission it was a given that you'd form the elusive bond.

Genma was sitting next to Raidou, cross legged on his bed roll. Raidou was wrapped up in his sleeping bag with only his face poking out the top, and only took his hand out to take a drink of his beer. "It's fucking cold, man," he'd mumble every now and then. And it was; nights in Suna were always cold.

"It's a shame the others couldn't come," Izumo sighed from his position of reclining on his bed roll next to the fire he'd created, "we never do this anymore." This was their cue to reflect on their fallen comrades Hayate and Asuma; Hayate because he'd died a ninja's death and Asuma because he'd finally been domesticated by Kurenai.

"What are you talking about? We do this at least every Friday." Kotetsu.

"Do we? We all go out of Konoha, light a fire, sit around it and drink?"

"No! I meant we all get together, you knew what I meant."

"Whatever, genius."

"Shut up, baka."

"You shut up, dick wad."

"Piss off you fucking pansy."

"You piss off you-"

"Ladies, please," Ibiki muttered, knocking the bottle top off his beer bottle with his teeth, Genma winced, Ibiki smirked. _Show off_, he thought.

Genma was enjoying the heat from the fire and replaying the more amorous moments of his encounter with his blonde kunoichi in his head, when he suddenly realised Raidou was staring at him. He snuck a peek at him again, still staring. _Uh-oh_, Genma thought_, he wants details._

Genma relaxed back, trying to ignore the look the scarred man was giving him. _Maybe he'll stop?_ Genma glanced back: he hadn't.

"Come on then?"

"What?"

"I said 'come on then'!"

"Come on what?" _Please don't make me talking about fucking Ino in front of her dad. _Genma suddenly realised they were _all_ staring at him with that strange enquiring look, their eyes almost sparkling with anticipation.

"Come on! What's wrong with you? You've usually at least given us her vital stats by now." That was Inoichi. Genma cringed internally under his blue gaze, so alike to Ino's.

_All right Genma, just keep it vague._

"Oh, you know, she was the usual – boobs, hips, thighs-"

"Kunoichi?" Raido asked.

"Yes." _Kunoichi is vague enough._

"I don't like kunoichi, too muscular." This was Raidou, and Genma supposed talking to _him_ about Ino wasn't so bad. If only he couldn't feel Inoichi's cerulean eyes on him.

"Nothing wrong with kunoichi, they're up for anything." Ibiki.

"Yeah, and muscular ain't a bad thing either." Kotetsu. Raidou pulled a face, obviously he disagreed.

"Nah, don't like muscular, women should be soft not all hard and angular." Izumo.

"Just because you go for the fat ones," Kotetsu rejoined.

"Just because you go for the masculine ones," Izumo smirked at his own comeback.

The two fought like a married couple, and Genma was sure he wasn't the only one in their gathering who had on the tip of their tongue, 'you both go for each other".

"You think too much! Hard, soft it's all the same, they all got boobs and a vagina." This was Inoichi, and everyone seemed to agree with him, Raidou and Kotetsu smirking and sniggering and Ibiki and Izumo nodding thoughtfully. Genma stayed quiet, not wanting to jinx the change in conversation topic from solely his conquests to a more wide scope.

"So?" Raidou was looking at him with those awaiting eyes again, "Who was it last night?" _Oh crap._

"Er – just some chuunin," _sorry Ino._

"Which chuunin?"

"Erm...one of the new ones?" _Please don't let them know any of the new ones._

"You don't know her name?" Genma panicked inside, should he make one up? Should he lie? There was no way he could tell them it was Ino. Everyone was looking at him again and he was getting a newly formed stage fright.

"No...well yes...I mean it was...I...I was very drunk," he finally decided on. Inoichi laughed.

"So you don't remember?" _Yes, it was Ino, yes it was Ino, yes it was Ino, yes it was Ino, yes it was..._

"No," he said before the truth vomited from his mouth.

"You remember the sex though, right?" Raidou asked. Genma decided not to answer that, but it didn't seem to matter because Ibiki took over.

"Course he does, don't you remember your 30th? He was pissed _off his face_ and he _still_ remembered sleeping with Akina."_ Damn you Akina_, Genma thought glumly.

"So, good? Bad? Average?"

"Er-" _say good, they'll ask more question if you say bad and besides it _was _good._ "Good."

"Why are you being so shy about it!" _oh no they're on to me!_

"I'm not! ...you really want to know about it?" A conclusive nod. "Why don't you all have sex sometime!" he huffed.

"Married." Inoichi said glumly, then, pointing to each member of the group in turn he said as if reading off a list: "alcoholic, workaholic, gambling addict and sadomasochist. You're the only sex addict here, so you get to tell the stories."

"I'm not an alcoholic!" Raidou groused, "And besides the only time I drink is with you guys!"

"And it's not my fault I gamble so much! It's Tsunade's!" Izumo smirked.

"No it's her fault I work so much, it's your fault you gamble." Ibiki stayed quiet throughout this exchange and sported a twisted kind of self-satisfied smirk, there was no denying he was a sadist, and what's more he had no intention of denying it; it was something he actually quite liked about himself.

"It's your own faults," Genma said, fishing in his pocket for one of Asuma's stolen cigarettes, "and if you didn't spend your nights gambling and drinking, you'd get a lot more sex done." Raidou rolled his eyes and watched Genma light the cigarette and inhale.

The cigarette tasted like Ino, he noticed. It was not Asuma's usual choice of tobacco as he'd obtained them from a mission in Sand, but Genma didn't feel bad for taking them because all Asuma did when he smoked them was complain about the composition of tobacco being wrong. To Genma, the taste was Ino, and it conjured up images of tangled blonde hair and long limbs and a curvaceous outline. He began to day dream, drowning out the conversation around him.

"Care to share?" he was elbowed in the ribs.

"Ouch!"

"She must have been something for you to be acting like this; you sure you don't know her name?" Inoichi. _Yes, it was..._

"No, I don't! Stop pestering me."

"Brunette?" Izumo asked.

"No, blonde."

"Hn, blue eyes I suspect,"

"Yeah,"

"And big long eyelashes," Kotetsu said in a dreamy tone. Izumo snickered.

"You really haven't had sex in a long time have you?" Kotetsu shrugged.

"To much gambling," he said, smiling mischievously.

"Tall?"

"Reasonably,"

"Big boobs?"

"Reasonably. Bigger than most kunoichi."

"Any kinks?"

"No,"

"Ah, that's no fun then." Ibiki muttered, lying down on the grass with his hands behind his head.

"You're usually a lot more enthusiastic about it. Did she give you-" he couldn't stand Inoichi talking to him about this and so cut him off.

"Look, we went to her place and fucked, that was all. Can be drop it now?" Inoichi's eyebrows quirked.

"I think someone got under your skin." _It was Ino, it was Ino, it was..._

"She didn't! There's nothing else to say, she..." _oh well I'm going to hell anyway_, "she was gorgeous, nice round breasts, nice firm ass, long legs; we had fun," then he added as an afterthought, "I've got the marks that prove it." Kotetsu snickered but no one said anything else, apparently they had relented under Genma's stubbornness.

"It's late and we have to get to the mansion tomorrow for surveillance, it's bedtime." Ibiki got up and rummaged in his pack as he spoke.

"Alright Dad." Ibiki shot Raidou a withering look that made him submissively obey the command.

Inoichi was first watch and as Genma lay in his sleeping bag, smoking his cigarette and sucking on a senbon at the same time, he studied the man's outline. He found it strange that Ino had inherited his blonde hair and blue eyes but facially and bodily was nothing like him. Inoichi was tall and well-built and whereas Ino had a strong body with broad shoulders and long limbs but she was elegant; her delicate clavicles stuck out from her skin and her hands and wrists tapered gently from her strong forearms, and despite the power of her body her face was composed of this same delicate bone structure; Inoichi's facial features were broad and so unlike his daughters. Genma made a conscious decision to pay closer attention to Inoichi's wife the next time he saw her because, if she was anything like Ino, she deserved the attention and the praise for creating someone as beautiful as Ino.

Genma paused, with the cigarette halfway to his mouth, _ugh, did I just think that? I'm getting _way_ too soft!_

* * *

Thank you for reading! Again sorry for errors.

Good? Bad? Review! xx.


	4. Red

Tres tres looong chapter!

**Warning:** bad language, rudeness and a little bit of sexiness. I warned ya!

Thanks for reading!

* * *

_Hmm, a party, a party, no...no...no...no...no...no..._Ino was rummaging around in her closet, throwing clothes on the bed as she discarded them as unsuitable. So far five dresses, six skirts, two shirts, eight tops and three pairs of trousers lay in a crumpled heap on the bed behind her; she'd made a surprising amount of mess considering she'd been out all day with Shika and Choji, then work, and she'd only just got in from celebrating Choji's newly acquired jounin status at the pub five minutes ago.

Ino took out another dress and eyed it critically; it was a halter neck with two silky ribbons to tie behind her neck and it came down in a low – but not too low – v at the front; it was a lovely dress and she'd only worn it once before, she _wanted_ to wear it but there was one problem: it was red.

She stared at the scarlet fabric, running her hands along its satiny texture, _does red wash me out? _She held it up to her, watching herself in the mirror closely to see if the red of the dress affected her complexion in any way; it did look odd but she didn't know whether it was because the red of the dress clashed with her the green of her medic's uniform that she was wearing, or the tone of her skin. She slid off her uniform and shrugged on the dress, smoothing it down her legs as she examined herself in the mirror, _I never thought it did before...maybe that's why Shika isn't madly in love with me...maybe I should stick to purple?_ She knew she was being ridiculous but she couldn't help that, not when nosey Genma-shagging-toilet-women had pried into her life and commented on things that need not have been commented on. She took off the dress and threw it on the bed, feeling like a child who'd been told they couldn't play with a new toy. _Right, I need a new dress._

Next on her list of things she needed was underwear.

She looked sceptically at her underwear drawer without even needing to open it; she knew there'd be nothing in there except a mismatch of the silly, the outrageous and the very, very plain. She wanted something _nice,_ especially since she was going out with Sexy ANBU Captain and also because, as she finally opened the drawer and surveyed her existing underwear, she was kind of disgusted at herself because of its contents: the only matching set she had consisted of blue girly boxers and a blue bra, on the front of the pants it read 'sex' and on the back 'pig', then underneath was an embarrassing picture of a cartoon pig with a heart on its bum, this picture could also be found on the right cup of the bra – hardly what she needed for seduction.

When Sakura had given them to her after a mission in Snow country she'd accepted the novelty gift with sarcastic thanks but then promptly stuffed them into the back of her drawer, meaning for them never to see the light of day and vaguely wondered why anyone would make a pair of knickers that read 'sex pig'.

Ino blamed herself for the gift because previously on a mission to Snow, just after she'd had a girly heart to heart with Sakura in which Sakura had told her that she was worried because she was still a virgin (something that was almost impossible among shinobi of nineteen years as they had been then) she had purchased Sakura some panties with cherries on the front then the slogan 'pop mine' on the back just in case, she had told Sakura, Sakura decided to take the plunge but was too shy to broach the subject with the chosen one, the panties would say it all. In return Sakura had said her present was to boost her sex life since that's what she'd been whining about during their discussion.

Unfortunately somewhere in between the all night hospital shifts and the week long missions where shelter was provided either by a forest, or a horrible little hotel room in a seedy town with a dirty bathroom and 'what the _hell _is that stain on the bed?', in fact just her general lack of time spent in places she could actually _safely _buy anything new, that particular underwear set had slipped into the regular cycle.

She rummaged around in the drawer and found the 'outrageous' constituent of her drawer: a leather thong with a holster to put a whip in which she had been given by proper boyfriend number two for her birthday; this he'd followed up with a leopard print thong with attachable _tail_ for their anniversary, devil horns, pitchfork and another thong with a tail (this time forked) as a present for himself on his birthday, and...then Ino had had enough, and before he could buy the naughty elf and Santa costumes for Christmas she dumped him, and the terrible sex, and the weird underwear - which she could only imagine was an ineffective way of making up for his lack of bedroom finesse.

The plain was covered by the white and black plain bras and three packs of standard white briefs that had been on sale at the supermarket; it was pitiful and she decided, if she was serious about being a player she needed new underwear! She doubted Genma had old and frayed boxers or the bizarre material scars of an old and terribly lacking relationships hidden in his underwear drawer, then again she doubted Genma had ever had a relationship that lacked terribly in the bedroom.

She hadn't noted Genma's underwear when she'd slept with him - she'd been too busy trying to get him naked; she wondered if he'd noticed hers and lamented at how horribly plain they were?

_Right so new lingerie too, _she mentally added to tomorrow's to-do list,_ new dress, new lingerie._

Ino began the odious task of getting all her clothes back into her wardrobe but gave up halfway through and tipped them onto the floor. She walked away into the bathroom, eyeing the crumpled red dress, troubled, then two seconds later exited the bathroom and hung it up on a hanger, straightening out its skirt and placing it neatly in her closet, _I'll give it to Sakura or something_, she thought glumly.

When she finally got into bed she was assailed by that Genma smell again and snuggled into it, allowing her mind to drift to him and his messy morning hair and mischievous smile and big, strong arms. _I wonder if he'll be there tomorrow_ was her last thought before she fell asleep.

XXXXXXX

"Genma!" Nobody else in the clearing they'd slept in could tell, but there was in fact a woman on top of Genma, moaning and writhing. "Genma, Genma, Genma! You're so fucking huge!" _...wait a minute..._ "and you're the most powerful ninja _ever_!" _...a dream?..._ "and you're the king of _everything_," ..._definitely a dream, well that's a shame. _The dream girl was tossing her dream head back so he could feel her dream blonde hair skimming his thighs. Her dream face was..._Ino_, he thought in surprise; he was having a dirty dream about being big, powerful and the king of everything with Ino. He silently complimented his subconscious on its choice of dream woman, every detail of her was perfect, down to the dip of her belly button and shade of her blue, blue eyes, _I must have been paying more attention than usual_, he thought idly.

"Genma, Genma, Genma!" She kept murmuring it in her soft wispy voice. "Genma...Genma"

"Ino..."

"...Genma?" her voice got deeper and deeper and more different until he suddenly realised, _shit that's Raidou, end dream, end dream!_

He awoke like a shot, sitting up right in his sleeping bag and staring into the half stunned, half amused face of Namiashi Raidou.

"Ino?" he said softly, "as in Yamanaka?" Genma glared at him, wondering how the hell he'd get out of this one and becoming increasingly aware of the bulge in his pants.

He decided on the dismissive approach and carefully got up, brushing passed Raidou as he went and sauntering over to where the others were cooking fish over the fire. A slightly burnt fish on a stick was thrust into his hands and he chewed on it thoughtfully, trying to act nonchalant but inside his heart was pounding. He saw Raidou swaggering over to him, still staring with that damn _annoying _mix of astonishment and mischief and quickly busied himself by going back to his bed roll and packing it away quickly then retrieving a spare top from his pack.

"Where's the river?" he mumbled sleepily to no one in particular, rubbing a sore spot on his back, suddenly feeling the effects of sleeping on the floor of the forest. Ibiki pointed soundlessly to the left and Genma immediately took off in that direction, hoping to god the river water was _cold._

XXXXXX

The water wasn't so cold when he slipped into it, and the way it rippled gently over his skin did little to calm _himself_ down.

For a moment back in the forest he had thought Raidou would follow him to the river but there was no sign of him; not _yet_ anyway.

Genma had taken off his shirt and trousers and was lounging on his back in the water in nothing but a pair of white boxers. He was fairly sure they'd soaked up water and were pretty see-through but no one was around so he supposed it didn't matter. Again he thought of Ino and then what he'd just unwittingly told the scarred ANBU. Raidou was a clever man, he'd probably by now worked out that Ino was the 'Chuunin' from the night before. Genma wondered if he could still deny it; could he get away with saying it was just a kinky dream starring Ino? He guessed not; his reaction to Raidou's response to his sleepy murmuring had been too intense for just dream sex, and Raidou would probably see passed any excuse he would make and rightly guess that it wasn't just dream sex, it was real sex. Also it would explain his lack of enthusiasm when detailing his most recent exploit.

He was looking at the clouds as he floated along with the water, and the tree's leafy branches that extended over the riverbank and just made in into his line of vision. Dreaming about the girl he'd slept with the night before was pretty standard really, and when he looked back he realised he should have seen it coming. But at least now it was peaceful, now he could look up at the sky and find shapes in the clouds like a lazy Nara until he had to go and spy on the compound or someone came and -

"Genma?" Genma sighed.

"Go away, Raidou,"

"Are you sleeping with Inoichi's daughter?"

"_Go_ away""

"Is she the one with the 'nice round breasts, nice firm ass and long legs'?" Genma didn't answer, instead he stayed with his eyes trained on the sky, willing the flow of the water to carry him away from the bank and away from Raidou; if he didn't say anything it couldn't get any worse, he thought. "I can't believe you said that to Inoichi, about his own daughter! You're shameless!"

"I didn't _want_ to!" he snapped, "But you were pestering me and I had to say something, it's not like I went into detail!"

"So you _are_ sleeping with her!"

"What do you mean 'sleeping with her', it's not like its on-going, it's not a relationship; it was just sex, once."

"Once? That's not like you-" Genma sighed in exasperation and cut him off before he could say anything else.

"Fine, more than once! What I mean is it was all in one night, so it doesn't count!" Raidou quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, it counts; when Inoichi finds out he's going to think it counts!"

"Inoichi is _not_ going to find out," he stopped floating and turned in the water to his friend who was now sitting on the bank with his trousers rolled up and feet dipped in the water. Raidou shrugged.

"I ain't gonna tell him, but just to be sure, you might need to bribe me to make absolutely sure it doesn't slip out." Genma pushed his wet hair back from his face and out of his eyes. The price of the bribe, he knew, would be a few drinks on a Friday night – this he believed he could handle.

"Fine, I'll bribe you,"

"Nice," Raidou laid back on the grass, "how the hell did you get with _Ino_?"

"Will you stop saying her name!"

"Okay, sorry, anyway, how did you get with her then?" Genma shrugged, even though he knew his scarred friend couldn't see, and sat back in the water.

"Well, actually, she propositioned me, she said-"

"Bull. Shit." Raidou said, not even bothering to open his eyes or actually address his friend.

"It's not, it's true! She said she wanted to be more like me and so I laughed then she got all flustered and started staring at me and it was obvious what she wanted, and she's got just the right eyes for persuasion, they went all blue and her pupils were huge and she kept pushing me and pushing me to sleep with her," Raidou snorted, "fine then, fuck off, I won't tell you if you don't believe me."

"No, no I do, carry on," it was obvious he didn't. Genma sighed, _fine,_ he thought.

"So then we went back to her house but I thought she'd be all nervous and turn me away at the last minute so I did the whole feel-her-up-outside-her-door thing, you know, just to check it-"

"Yeah I know, you were doing that when you were fifteen!" Genma shrugged and gave the excuse that every male shinobi used to protect their reputation when their young, philandering years were in question.

"Shinobi grow up fast."

"Suppose...is that what you're going to say to Inoichi when he finds out you did his daughter?"

"Will you shut up?! You're being a real prat, you know that?!" Raidou was sniggering and the sound was the most infuriating thing Genma had ever heard. "Besides, she's twenty, that's not that young!" His friend propped himself up on his elbows and stared at him blankly.

"You do understand that you'll be thirty-nine in July right?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," he said glumly, it was not something he was looking forward to.

"And she's twenty...do you see?"

"You're saying I'm too old?"

"Well yes, that as well, but you two have an almost twenty year age gap," Genma just shrugged, he had known she was young, "and you see nothing wrong with that?"

"It was sex and it was once, don't get your panties in a twist!"

"Pfft! You get _Yamanaka Ino_ the Untouchable and you expect that you'll leave it at one night? If you do you're an idiot." Genma gaped at his friend, what the hell did he want him to do? It was not as if he could suddenly be younger or make Ino older.

"But you just said-"

"I'm not saying anything..." he said vaguely, even though he knew very well he was sticking his oar in, "...except," _oh here we go,_ Genma thought, "that it was very irresponsible of you to go with her, if you even did, which I still barely believe," Genma huffed, "you've got yourself in a difficult situation."

"I know that but it's what she wanted, I did _try_ to say no," Raidou snorted again.

"Yeah right: you showing any sort of sexual discipline? That'll be the day..."

"I did, alright!" Raidou still looked sceptical.

"Hn, well I don't believe you anyway."

"You don't have to, in fact I'd prefer it if you don't."

"Hn."

"But _please_ don't say anything to anyone else, not for me but for Ino," Raidou quirked an eyebrow.

"'For Ino' huh? That's not usually something you think about, Genma, are you _sure _it was _just_ sex, _once_?" Genma deadpanned.

"No, actually Raidou she'd pregnant with my beautiful, illegitimate child and tomorrow we're eloping to Rain to get married!"

"Now you're lying."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Oi pansies, what you doing lounging around as if we ain't got work to do? We're leaving now!" They both looked up to see Ibiki, tying his bandana over his disfigurement scalp.

"Coming," Genma muttered, getting out of the pool and reaching for his clean shirt.

XXXXXX

The group of Leaf shinobi had split up, Inoichi and (thankfully) Raidou left for the enemy compound which had successfully been spotted in a crater-like space near the forest. Ibiki was scouting around, disposing of anyone who tried to get remotely close to their watch-post in a leafy part of the surrounding forest.

Izumo and Kotetsu had a pair of binoculars each and had been watching the compound all morning. Genma was supposed to be doing something constructive but was actually lounging against a tree in the cool shade of the big leaves of the Suna trees with their huge roots that stretched right down into the earth. He claimed he was watching in case someone slipped past Ibiki but some would argue that it was difficult to do so if said shinobi had his eyes closed.

"What the fuck...?" Kotetsu suddenly murmured.

"What?" Izumo asked, sitting up, "_what_ the fuck?"

"All these...just suddenly appeared...wait...I know him, he's...he's one of them..."

"One of them what?" This was Genma this time, stirred to attention by Kotetsu's intrigue.

"Look," he said, passing the binoculars to Genma as Izumo scrambled to get his own, "first floor on the right."

Genma looked, he noticed Inoichi immediately, him being taller than everyone else in the room and with an extraordinary plume of long blonde pony-tail, next to him was Raidou and they appeared to be conversing with a man in nothing but a mesh shirt and torn trousers, he carried some sort of container on his back although Genma wasn't sure what it was, it was wrapped in bandages and as the man turned Genma caught sight of what looked like brown _hair_ sprouting from the top of it. _Oh god it's not a body is it?_ he thought, imagining that an enemy that carried a dead person around on their back would not be a very nice enemy. Even though the man' arms were crossed high over his chest the stance was not unfriendly, and as Genma switched his vision back to Inoichi he saw the blonde man smiling and laughing.

"Look at his face," Izumo said, referring to the strange man who'd just appeared; Genma did and sure enough he saw smudged streaks of purple on his cheeks mixed with the red of blood: he had been fighting. "It's that Sand kid," Izumo said, giving his binoculars to Kotetsu so he could see again.

"Sand?" Genma asked, suddenly feeling quite foolish as he realised that all the shinobi he could see in that room wore a hitai-ate with the Sand insignia, and feeling a trickle of recognition run through him, "I know him!"

"You should, he was at the Chuunin exams when Hayate...and you did the last rounds. He's the Kazekage's-" the sharp point of a kunai was suddenly thrust against Genma's throat and he guessed from the sharp intake of breath from Izumo that the same was occurring to him. As if on reflex Genma's hand shot up and he grabbed the kunai in his gloved hand, twisting it in such a way that the person holding it yelped and jumped back before his wrist snapped. All in one swift movement Genma was on his feet with the senbon from his mouth in his hand, still and poised and ready to fight.

"Well at least one of them's working properly," came a sarcastic female voice, "you can let them go now." This one he _definitely_ recognised because she was often in Konoha hanging around with Old Nara's kid. Tall, slim, blonde, two hair ties holding an amount of spiky blonde hair on either side of her head, plus that huge fan on her back.

"Hello Temari," Kotetsu managed to say around the kunai at his neck and grinning lewdly on purpose, "coming to capture three handsome gentlemen for your day off?" Temari's smug expression faltered but was suddenly back full force.

"Maybe," she said, "but since you fall under neither category, Kotetsu, perhaps I should look elsewhere?" Izumo laughed at his pouting friend.

She again signalled to the two shinobi holding Izumo and Kotetsu to back off and the leaf nins got to their feet.

Ibiki was standing with them, Genma realised, with a cruel smirk on his face at them being caught out, presumably he himself had not.

"Defending the watch-post, hm?" he said with that cruel grin again and Genma was about to tell him where he could shove that shit-eating grin when he suddenly realised that a lady was present, and also the radio at his feet crackled into life.

"_The compound it secure, Sand are here,_" it was Inoichi. He picked it up and spoke into the mouth piece.

"Yeah, we got some of them here too."

"_Okay, we're coming to the watch-post._"

"Why _are _you here anyway?" Izumo asked, dusting off his the mud stains on his trousers from where he'd been kneeling in the dirt.

"More like why are _you_ here?"

"This is Fire Country land," Genma said, furtively eyeing Temari up and down, _kinda nice_, he thought, _I think blondes are my new most favourite-est._

"Maybe, but Saitou is from Sand," she shot back, referring to the war lord they were supposed to be stealing off.

"From Sand but _in_ Fire," Genma insisted.

"He's Sand's problem, besides you're just bitter because we beat you to him" she said, smirking a smirk that was all cheeky and suggestive, _she seems like a bloody handful_, he thought,_...and I kinda like it._ Genma shrugged, playing it cool because he realised if he was ever in Sand he might like to bunk up with this kunoichi and it was always nice to make an impression.

"We could always just lie and say we did it ourselves..." Temari laughed but then shook her head.

"Sorry, but no, I'm coming back to Konoha with you."

"Why?" Izumo asked, suddenly quite distressed, "you can't, you're a Sand _ambassador_! The Hokage will kill us for not telling her in advance, we don't have accommodation ready or-"

"Don't worry, I think she knows, I was invited, see," she pulled out a small invitation from inside her long kimono and held it up, "see?" she said again. It was a party invitation that she held in her hand and it had the mark of the Hokage on the bottom and the symbol of Konoha at the top.

"The Jounin party? You're invited?" Izumo looked surprised, "I didn't know outsiders were allowed-" He must have realised that it sounded quite rude because he abruptly stopped talking and received a withering look from Kotetsu, but Temari only blushed and looked away.

"Yeah, well, Shika invited me, Choji passed so..." she trailed off quietly. Kotetsu was about to comment (and from the grin on his face it was bound to be something vulgar about Temari and the Nara kid) when Kankuro, Raidou and Inoichi popped into view, Raidou holding the stolen family heirloom, and Genma immediately quashed all thought of whether Ino would be going since presumably her two team mates were.

"You're going to have to set off now if you want to get there at a reasonable time." Kankuro said curtly, his eyes drifting over the Konoha shinobi as if assessing them for their ability (and probably, Genma thought, their ability to deliver his sister safely to Konoha, although to Genma it didn't look like Temari needed assisting in anything...maybe some things...)

"Yeah, we're off now," Temari said, without consulting any of the others, "take my squads back and tell Gaara I went straight ahead to Konoha." Kankuro hesitated.

"You know he won't be happy with that, he doesn't want you travelling without any protection." Every Konoha shinobi tensed.

"Hey, what the hell do you think we are?" Ibiki suddenly bristled; Kankuro gave him a glance but his focus was on Temari.

"Besides, I think she can take care of herself," Genma said, purely to get in the young Sand kunoichi's good books, it worked, he got a smile.

"Exactly," Temari said, obviously trying to dismiss the subject and the cloud of hostility that had suddenly appeared between the two groups of shinobi, "let's go, I'll be back in about four days," she said before turning and walking off without anyone else.

"Er – we'll take good care of her," Izumo mumbled, trying to make the tension in the air between Sand and Fire dissipate.

"I know" Kankuro said shortly, eyeing the back of his rebellious sister with distaste, then in an altogether more polite tone "well, I've got to get back and take everyone home. Have a safe journey," then he was gone and so were all the other Sand shinobi.

"Wow," Raidou said, "intense."

XXXXXX

"Yo!" Shikamaru looked up from his usual cloud gazing spot to see his blonde team mate blocking out the sun.

"Hello Ino," he said, flicking the ash off his cigarette. Ino moved back to avoid the spray of embers and ash.

"I guess that means go away?" she asked, angry outwardly, upset inside.

"What? Oh no, here, sit down," he moved along the stone slab so she could sit and Ino sat warily, noticing all the marks from where he'd stubbed out cigarettes and trying to avoid them.

"So...I was thinking," the alarm bells went off in Shika's head. When Ino started sentences this way it was never good, "I was thinking that, because Sakura is at the hospital and TenTen is still wrapped around Neji from last night and Choji is training, I was wondering if..._you_ would go shopping with me?" Without missing a beat all he replied was.

"Hinata?"

Ino sighed.

"She can't; she's playing 'clan relations' with Naruto." Ino rolled her eyes and Shika let out a snort of amusement which made her eye roll instantly fade into a smile. She liked it when Shikamaru found her funny.

"Shizune?"

"Work."

"Akina?"

"Mission."

He sighed.

"Lee?" Ino just laughed, it was response enough.

"Kiba? Shino? Sasuke?" Ino snorted.

"No, no and no, all for obvious reasons." Shikamaru shrugged.

"You're just being picky."

"No I'm not! I want to spend time with my most favourite ninja of them all, is that so bad?" He raised his eyebrows at her. "Plleease Shika!" she whined, pulling his trouser leg back and forth and pouting like a petulant child. He sighed with an exhale of smoke and Ino tried not to cough, barely.

"Ino, I can't, even if I wanted to, I can't, I'm waiting for someone." Ino furrowed her brows, _who?_ "And besides you only want me to go with you so you can bully me into buying you things from the strategist's bonus I got from ANBU," _damn,_ she thought, _that's half the reason blown_, "well, I haven't got it yet." Ino tutted, again sounding about ten years younger than she should.

"Who ya waitin' for?" she asked after a while. Shikamaru passed her a sideways glance, then, averting his eyes and in a _very_ quiet voice muttered:

"Temari," _ouch_, Ino thought as a pain ripped through her chest, _what the hell is that? _Oh yes, just that familiar feel of him stamping on her heart in stilettos.

"Oh, I didn't know she was here."

"She's not...yet, she said she's finishing a mission today then she'll come afterwards."

"F...for the party thing tonight?" Shika nodded, still looking at the sky, not brave enough to look her in the face. "Cool," she said very quietly, inadvertently conveying that she thought the situation was anything _but_ cool. "Well, that's fine, I'll go alone, you would probably just have complained all the way anyway," she laughed nervously. She laughed to hide the myriad of strongly negative emotions running through her. She laughed to ease the guilt he was feeling.

She found herself missing Genma, greatly, because he was nice to her and didn't seem to hold this strange and horrible power over her.

XXXXXX

And so Ino went alone, but by the time she'd gone home, cried into her pillow, got up, got a hold of herself and finally managed to go out it was the afternoon. It was a shame that Sakura was working, she thought, strictly keeping all thought of Temari and Shikamaru and what they could be doing now out of her mind, because Sunday was the day that the shops opened later than usual, and although she knew that Sakura, being Sakura, would have her outfit hung up in her bedroom and would have picked it out sometime last week, she missed spending time with her old friend, they'd always cheer each other up.

Ino looked at her watch as she hurried to the shops, it was three o'clock and she felt suddenly panicked. What if she couldn't find anything in the shops? Which she thought, was all too possible because now she was in the worst mood ever and her self-esteem had plummeted since her exchange with her lazy team mate.

She ran into the first shop she saw, browsed the rails and decided nothing worth buying was right, again there was a nice dress but they were red. _Red, red, red! I _hate_ red!_

The more she unsuccessfully shopped the more insecure and hopeless she felt. She tried on two sets of underwear and decided she really _was_ the most hideous person known to mankind and if she did get lucky tonight, which she doubted highly because, after all, she _was_ the most hideous person known to mankind, he'd have to make do with plain white.

It was when she was sitting dejectedly, idly stirring a polystyrene cup of tea, on a bench that things _at last_ began to look up.

She was staring at the dresses in the window of the shop opposite when someone spoke to her, right next to her ear and it scared the shit out of her.

"Hello Ino," she jumped, spilling her tea all over the pavement and swearing loudly. She looked up scowling, only to see Genma, in ANBU gear but with the white vest removed. Her anger dissipated.

"Hey! Sexy ANBU uniform, nice," Genma laughed and sat down beside her. "You're back already?"

"Yup, ANBU's a piece of cake," he said coolly.

"Yeah, whatever," she said, rolling her eyes and flicking back a long strand of blonde over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here alone?" he asked, unconsciously (or perhaps not so unconsciously) leaning back on the bench and shifting just a little bit closer to Ino.

"Shopping," she said, looking despondently to the shop opposite.

"I know that, what I mean is why are you so down? I saw you sitting there like someone'd just kicked your puppy."

"I don't have a puppy," Ino sighed, "more's the pity." Genma just shrugged.

"Me neither, but look on the bright side, they're messy little bastards and they need _loads_ of exercise to keep them happy."

"Kind of like you then?"

"Yeah, _just_ like me actually. So, when are you going to take me home and exercise me?" The sexual innuendo was obvious and Ino was polite enough to raise a smile but it seemed the immediate rush of companionship had died down, and she suddenly remembered that she was the most hideous person known to mankind, still without a dress, still without underwear.

It was a thin smile and it scared the hell out of Genma. It was a smile he often saw on the faces of girls who'd understood at the time that it was only sex but presumed that 'only sex' meant 'I can change you', and they were sorely disappointed when they realised they could not. It was a smile of bitterness.

"Er – are you okay about the other night? I think we should talk about it because you seem really down and I don't want you to-" _to follow me around like a love-sick puppy_, "to...feel bad or anything-" Ino's long sigh cut him off.

"No it's not that. But thanks for the concern anyway." _Oh_, Genma thought, feeling kinda silly that he'd fabricated feelings for Ino to experience towards him, _strong_ feelings, and...was that disappointment he felt? "It's just...do you think red washes me out?"

Genma answered automatically "of course it doesn't!", because he knew women and questions like this one were a bad mix, and the answer was _always_, 'you look good in everything!', especially if you wanted to keep your genitalia.

"Really? Because you see I'm trying to buy some stuff for that Jounin party tonight but I'm actually the most hideous person known to mankind," Genma barely prevented an eye roll, "you know? I try clothes on and it just doesn't look right, I'm too broad and chunky and don't get me started on underwear because it all looks horrible on me, and anything that I find remotely okay is fucking red! And I can't wear red because..."

"Because why?" Ino cast him a sideways glance then looked away.

"I don't want to say," she intoned quietly. This piqued Genma's interest immediately.

"Tell me!"

"Well because...this woman in the toilets at the barbeque place yesterday said red washed blondes out 'especially with my skin tone'."

"You're basing your life around a woman in the toilet?"

"Shut up, I knew you wouldn't understand!"

"No I do, she was one of those famous toilet gurus, ever speaking the truth." Ino scowled.

"Now you're just making fun of me!"

"No, seriously, I'm sorry, I feel for you but really, you can't take other people as seriously as you do. She was probably some bitch on a power trip." Ino shrugged.

"It was Yumi from ANBU admin," she said quietly having suddenly remembered her name whilst out the night before. She sneaked a look at Genma to see his reaction to the mention of a past lover. He tensed, visibly, and she felt it against her arm because he had shuffled even closer.

"Yumi?" he said absently, "Yumi _is_ a _bitch_," he said, with real venom. Yumi had slept with him for about a week about a month back, then told everyone he was crap in bed and the reason he slept with so many different people was because no one wanted to stay with someone with equipment _that_ small. And it was all out of pure spite.

Ino was surprised at his vehemence. He'd slept with her; Ino thought that meant he must like her...apparently not. He still had a look of great distaste on his face, as if Ino had just fed him a sour lemon garnished with salt. "She's _such_ a bitch," he murmured inattentively, then his eyes suddenly snapped to Ino. _Wow, nice eyes..._

"Ino, I was wondering..." _uh oh_, Ino thought, sensing a proposition, "because there's a Jounin party and everything, I just thought...I mean you're shopping now right? I could help you, I'm good with underwear," he winked, Ino smirked and rolled her eyes, "then tonight why don't _we_ go together, you know just as friends, then-"

"Er – actually, someone asked me this morning," she said quietly, wondering that if Genma had got there first would, she have accepted (yes)?

"The Nara kid?" he asked, scrunching his nose up as if he did not like that idea; he didn't, he knew Ino pined after him but he was a lazy layabout – he didn't deserve her. Ino snorted.

"As if, he's going with _Temari_: the most brilliant person in the whole fucking world."

"Temari?" he asked, surprised; he knew Nara had _invited_ her but he didn't know that they were involved, _damn_, he thought, _she was my reserve!_

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Er – kind of, there were crossed wires on our mission and Sand turned up, then she came home with us..." Ino's face had turned murderous and so he decided to stop talking.

"So it's _your_ fault she's here!" she accused, pointing an extra accusing finger at him.

"I...I think she was coming anyway..."

"It's still your fault!" she said, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest. Genma didn't say anything because he didn't want to get her even angrier; apparently Temari was a delicate subject and so he decided to change it.

"You gonna sleep with him?"

"Who?"

"The person you're going with,"

"Jirou? Erm I don't know, I think so. Do you think I should?"

"Jirou as in the captain?" _I do _not_ approve_, he thought.

"Yeah, is he an okay choice?" _No you should go with me!_ Genma thought, cursing himself for putting all his eggs in Ino's perfectly formed basket.

"Yes, he's okay, if he's as good as he claims he'll apparently have you screaming all night." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Men are such pigs," she said.

"Sure are."

"Well, if you don't need my assistance in underwear shopping, I'm off to find someone who does." He got up and stretched languorously, and Ino knew he only did it to show off the way his stomach muscles under the tight material of his vest stretched and relaxed with the movement. It was pretty spectacular.

"Wait...a...actually, Genma could you...I'd really like a man's opinion..." she looked down thoughtfully for a moment and all Genma could think was that he didn't like where this was going. "Come with me!" she said, looking up at him and grabbing his hand, pulling him off to the right.

"Woah, woah, Ino, Wait!" for some _strange_ reason, he just didn't have the inclination to dress Ino to kill, all for another man, all for _Jirou_, "Ino, that's a lady-shop! I can't go in there!" he tried lamely as she pulled him to the door.

"Sure you can, you're a lady's man, you've got more right to be in there than anyone." She continued pulling him with a strength that he could only imagine was some innate female power she had hidden in her muscles that pulled her towards shops.

"Wait, what if someone sees and thinks something's going on?" She turned facing him fully, now almost at the door of the 'lady-shop'.

"Genma...please," she said, her big blue eyes shining at him and her tone low and desperate as if she were pleading for something entirely different, "I really need your help, I'm new to this...please Genma." God, she was _purring_ his name, and he adored it – he was dwelling on her blue eyes and silky voice so much that he didn't even realise he was being pulled into the shop until they were in the door and she had two dresses in her hand. "It'll take two seconds," she insisted, selecting another dress off a rack then making her way to the changing room, "I just need an expert opinion."

He outwardly scowled but inwardly he was smiling proudly, _she thinks I'm an expert!_

"You know, you really know how to play men, Ino," he said sullenly as he followed her, looking about warily at the clothes racks and shoe stands, so, so many shoes; she shot him a devilish grin.

"I thought that was the point," she took two more dresses on her way to the cubicles at the back of the shop. "Two seconds," she said, closing the curtain and leaving him to his own thoughts.

Genma immediately noticed that he was in the middle of the lingerie section and he praised whoever masterminded the layout of this shop, it truly was a stroke of genius to put the changing rooms and lingerie bit together.

"You've never had a girlfriend have you?" Ino asked as she emerged and caught him staring with a mixture of awe and horror at the underwear, clothes and other shoppers. She doubted he'd ever been in a _proper_ woman's shop in his life, the nearest being the shop selling solely lingerie at sky high prices or the shady place that sold hand cuffs and whips and probably the costumes her old boyfriend bought her. He shook his head but then added:

"Well once but...nah not really."

"So?" she asked, twirling around in a yellowy gold dress made of something shiny. The skirt fanned out with her movements and framed her legs nicely.

"Er-yeah it's nice," he said noncommittally. She sighed in exasperation.

"Stop it! I want the truth, you're not my boyfriend ya know!" she barked.

"Fine, I'll be honest, I hate it, you can't see your boobs in it at all and men always like boobs, I like your boobs." Ino thought to be angry for a second but then shrugged it off, _I asked for the truth._

"Okay, more cleavage, got it," she said then disappeared behind the curtain again. Genma immediately went back to staring at the underwear. The rails were colour coded and as he stared at the red rail he thought about Ino and Yumi. In his mind, Yumi was a man-eating slag who dared to pass judgement on _The _Player, Shiranui Genma, and now that same player was mad at her but for an entirely different reason, his reason was Ino, little blonde (sex-goddess) Ino. Why did she have to be nasty to Ino? He doubted she was the type to start something in the ladies toilets, but Yumi was. She'd done the same sort of thing to him when they'd slept together, kept making little niggling comments that didn't quite qualify as an insult but wore away at ones self-esteem. With her it was all 'what the hell are you doing?' and 'you're doing it wrong' and 'are you finished yet?'. It was like she was trying to subtly provoke a fight. She was fun for a short time but got boring _very_ quickly and Genma had called off the casual sex after four days, possibly why she felt the need to spread evil rumours about him.

Ino came out again, this time in purple. It was a plain purple dress and she looked good in it, hell he thought she looked good in everything! But Ino was scowling.

"It's just not working! I look like a fucking Umpa Lumpa!" Genma stifled a snigger, instead sighing.

"Ino, give yourself a break and try the black one." She huffed and stomped back inside her changing room. "Ino?" he said slowly, his eyes fixed on a bra that had especially caught his attention.

"What?" she snapped.

"You wanted underwear right?" There was no answer for a second.

"So?"

"What size are you?"

"You perv," she said. She was angry. He tutted.

"You gonna tell me or what?" She sighed.

"32D, pervert," she couldn't help but add the insult, even though he was doing something nice for her. Immediately an underwear set was thrust into the changing room and she took it...snatched it.

She stared down at it, surprisingly it wasn't as slutty as she'd thought it would be: the pants were shorts and not a thong – they were see-through but she wouldn't hold that against him – and the bra was a proper bra and not a scrap of material. The colour was red and as she looked at it, playing idly with the black, silk bow in between the cups she wondered if he just hadn't been listening or was trying to make some sort of statement. She hoped it was the latter.

Although the base colour was red it had black lace in a vaguely clam shell pattern decorating the cups. It was the kind of bra she'd usually dismiss as being too pretty and out of her league although now, as she slipped the underwear on, she thought it ridiculous that she had ever thought that a bra _could_ be out of someone's league, what the hell did it mean anyway?

"Got it on?"

"Maybe," she said moodily, looking at herself in the mirror. Suddenly she saw Genma in the mirror too, poking his head around the curtain. He whistled, immediately coming into the cubicle and standing behind Ino.

"That is fucking amazing! You see? Red's great, and I know it's a shame but you're going to have to give your 'most hideous person known to mankind' prize to someone else; you've just lost it with this getup." Ino rolled her eyes but felt the sudden urge to hug Genma, she felt happy; she had her dress and her pretty underwear and it was thanks to him. But instead, looking at her plain white panties though the sheer material of the red pair she said dryly:

"I'm going to need a Brazilian now."

"Nah, you're blonde, it'll look fine without." He was far too informed about all this she realised.

"Thanks," she said in a small voice, because her agitation and pride wouldn't allow her to be any more enthusiastic. Their eyes met in the mirror but neither said anything and a strange kind of tension descended. It wasn't like the tension outside the pub, not the kind of two people unfamiliar with each other, in fact it was the exact opposite; it was the tension created by two people getting far _too_ familiar.

"Anytime," he answered back just as quietly. Then Ino turned around and kissed him, but is seemed like he was expecting it because his hands positioned on her back straight away and his tongue ran along the crease of the lips to delve in just moments later.

He pulled her closer by cupping his hands on her rear, drawing her into him, and he was happy when he felt her wind her arms around his neck. _God_, he thought, _this is the life, I've got a beautiful young blonde standing in front of me in her bra and panties _kissing _me! When did life get so good?_

Their tongues were in combat when suddenly there came a stern throat clear from the other side of the curtain.

"One person in a cubicle at a time, _please_." They parted and grinned sheepishly at each other.

"I'm going to go and find someone to go with tonight." The words sank in and Ino just managed to stop the down-turning of her mouth; she had no right to feel anything about what he'd just said, she had Sexy ANBU Captain after all.

She nodded and watched as he ducked under the curtain and away.

As she put on her normal clothes and made her way to the cash desk with the black dress and red lingerie she smiled to herself. _Red does not wash me out,_ she thought, _stupid woman_; though whether she was talking about Yumi or herself she didn't know.

* * *

Wow looong! Lozza stuff happening too! Hope the time frames weren't too confusing!

Review and let me if its okayxx.


	5. Devotee

Sooo number five. It's loooong again.

**Warning:** sexually explicit content and some swearing! Watch it!

Do a review :D

XXXXXX

Genma bounded up to the door of Uzuki Yuugao's apartment and knocked. No answer.

He knocked again, resolved upon getting an answer since his afternoon's excursion to try and find a suitable girl to take to the Jounin party had been unsuccessful, in fact it had been less than unsuccessful, it had been down right unpleasant since he'd bumped into a couple of women who were on his 'no – shagged before and they're still bitter' list, and now the left side of his face stung.

He knocked again, loudly, suddenly noticing the existence of a new doorbell on the wall and so rang that too for good measure, then again and again.

"Yuugao," he shouted through the letter box. He didn't like this, where was she? She would have told him if she had gone on a mission and besides when he looked through the letterbox he could see her sandals sitting on the mat. _It's possible she had other shoes_, a sarcastic voice inside him told him but still, he couldn't help feeling the panic rise.

Since the death of her lover Hayate a little under eight years ago she'd never been the same, though he suspected going from always being with someone to suddenly being alone must be quite an unwelcome change, putting it lightly. When she woke up expecting to stretch out to feel skin beneath her fingers, she was alone; when she went to sleep wanting to be able to feel the safety of another person, their scent, their soft breaths, their arms around her, she was alone; when she got in from a long mission wanting to curl up to another body, wanting to feel she would be missed if she had died, she was alone; she had no one to worry about when they were away, no one to touch her or kiss her or give her any human on a regular basis, or make sure she ate properly or went outside enough. And she wouldn't accept these things from anyone else other than the man who'd been giving her them for the seven years they'd been together: Hayate, who was the one person who couldn't give her it.

Five years ago she'd got bad, very bad. It began harmlessly enough, the odd unexplained cut here and there, then she lost a bit of weight, then she began putting in more appearances down at the pub than usual. Tsunade took her sword from her and took her off active duty and told her to have a break: she didn't come out of her house for the whole duration of her two months break, only allowing friends in if they persevered.

Genma had been sent in when things had begun to hit an all time low; she'd stopped eating and going out and washing and she wouldn't admit anyone into her house, she just sat and stared at the wall, wrapped up in her duvet gently caressing Hayate's red hilted sword and the silver leaf insignia on his hitai-ate.

Genma had been called in because they specifically wanted a male shinobi to lure her out of her comfort zone, and apparently he was the only male shinobi who could handle crying women, plus he already sort of knew Yuugao and she wouldn't be startled by his presence since they'd been in ANBU together.

His job was to get her touching again, get her socialising and no one could see anyone better for the job than the man who did the most touching of ladies in the whole of Konoha. He'd sat with her for hours, at first just watching her stare at the wall because she'd freak out if he moved too suddenly, then she allowed him to hold her hand which quickly morphed into an embrace once she'd got used to him touching her. He began staying nights at her house so she wouldn't be alone at night or when she woke up, and as she gradually began to resume her missions he was always there to see her off and there to make her food and tuck her in when she returned.

They'd slept together once and once only; she'd kept her eyes closed the whole time and continuously whimpered something over and over that sounded nothing like 'Genma', there was one symbol extra in the word, and as if he hadn't already known what she was saying she had called out 'Hayate' when she came, which he wasn't surprised at. He asked her if she wanted to be with him, more out of etiquette than anything else, but she'd just smiled and said no (which he was secretly _very_ relieved about).

Then one day when she came back from a mission to find him on her doorstep, telling her he'd lost his set of her house keys she just laughed, kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him with genuine affection, "I'll be okay now, Genma," she said, and just like that he was dismissed. But they'd formed a bond and it wouldn't be dismissed so easily. She had other emotional outlets, other shinobi, mostly medics, assigned to stabilise different aspects of her life, but it was inevitable that she'd form a special bond with the man who took care of her physical well being.

Back to the present there was a shuffle behind the door just before it swung open and the purple haired kunoichi stood before him, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Yes?" Yuugao's hair was a mess, her eyes were half-lidded as if she were asleep on her feet and she was wearing a pair of blue stripy pyjama bottoms and an overly large t-shirt that Genma recognised, with a pang of sympathy and sadness, as being Hayate's.

Genma smiled and eyed her sleepy state with an amused expression.

"Come on, get your glad rags on, I'm taking you out." She blinked at him with sleepy incomprehension then yawned, backing away from the door slightly and receding into the darkness of the rooms within,

"You'd better come in," she mumbled, running a hand through her long purple hair.

He followed her into her kitchen where she flicked on the electric kettle, yawned again and slumped into a chair around the small table, still with two chairs. Finally she regarded Genma.

"What were you saying?" she asked.

"I'm taking you out to a party," he said. She shook her head.

"Too tired." He pouted.

"Please? You'll have fun, it's free alcohol and everyone's going to be there." She pulled a face.

"Great, a room full of drunk jounin!? Because I don't see that every Friday night," she said, rolling her eyes and, resting her head on the table, eventually closing them.

Genma took a cup out of her cupboard and proceeded to make her a cup of coffee.

"Drink this and wake up, I'm going to find you something to wear." She murmured incoherent protestations, her hand curling around the warm mug, but it seemed all the vehemence had been removed from her and tenacity was absent from her negative mumblings.

Strangely enough Genma was pretty well accustomed to Yuugao's closet and so easily picked out a plain white cotton dress, because he knew she wouldn't wear anything more adventurous, then selected some patent, dark green heals. He looked up to see her in the doorway.

Genma smiled proudly at the outfit he'd selected but she just looked at it dubiously, cradling the mug of coffee in her hand.

"You know, you're like my gay best friend," she said and laughed as his proud smile vanished and was replaced by a scowl.

"I just know what I like to see on women...I'm not gay," he sulked childishly but only to bring a laugh from her again.

"No, and don't we women of Konoha know it?" she said humorously, coming to stand next to him and ruffling his brown hair which he ducked from. His proud smile was back, _yes they do know it_.

She looked down at her clothes. "What should I wear over it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, knowing it was futile, she hated male's attention and so covered up as much as she could – the knee length white dress would be a challenge for her. She pulled a face at him and reached for a black jumper that was crumpled on her bed, he stopped her and shook his head, reaching instead for a dark green cardigan from her wardrobe, "If you must," he said, holding it out to her. She took it, examined it, passed it as okay, then slipped off her pyjama bottoms and t-shirt. Nakedness was not an issue between the two because when he'd acted as her carer on her worst days he'd bathed her and ultimately he'd slept with her; they'd both seen each other so there was nothing to shock. And so eventually she stood in her bra and panties

_Second time in one day_, Genma thought as he picked up the white dress and slipped it over her head. Yuugao was a woman, an attractive one at that, and of course Genma had a certain reaction to the sight of her standing half-naked next to him but it just wasn't like when he was with others, when he was with Ino. The sexual element of Yuugao was completely lost on him, ironic, he thought, because he was one of the very few men she'd ever slept with.

Comparing this pretty-girl-in-underwear encounter with the one with Ino earlier that day was startling because they were both _so_ different and yet elements of both were identical. He loved Yuugao as a friend, he liked spending time with her and sharing his days with her and increasingly he was becoming aware that the same was beginning to happen with Ino; of course he'd only known her properly for three days but he _liked_ her, he liked the way she was sometimes shocked when he was crude or when he swore and he liked the way she tried to hide it, he liked that every now and then the naughty vixen inside her would jump out and surprise him, and, providing she didn't suddenly turn into a clingy psycho bitch endeavouring against all odds to reform him from his philandering ways, he would continue to like her. He even kind of liked how she was resolutely an independent woman but then followed men around like a needy puppy. He realised he was drawn to dysfunctional women and he was okay with it; the majority of the women he was able to befriend were shinobi and it was almost a rule that the dysfunctional ones were almost always the most skilled.

With Ino it was all adrenaline rushes and hitched breaths when the slightest bit of revealed skin came into view; it had never been like that with Yuugao, they were excellent friends but nothing more. She was still madly in love with Hayate and he respected that, and he did not see her as a sexual object and she both respected that and loved him for it.

XXXXXX

It was whilst Ino was applying the finishing touches that she suddenly realised how long it had been since she'd dated. She'd forgotten that the happiness of getting a date was succeeded by the horrible, anxious, sickly feeling of nervousness, then all those self-conscious thoughts like 'am I over dressed?', 'am I too slutty?', 'do I look too desperate?'. However, she decided if any of those things were true she'd blame it on Genma.

She was adjusting the back straps of her dress so that the red of her bra did not show when the doorbell rang and Ino's heart gave an off beat thump of anxiety. She tried to think like Genma would but what the hell _would_ he think? She suddenly realised that even though she'd only known him for three days she was already leaning on him like a life support and trying to get into his head, _stop it Ino!_ she scolded herself and resolved to think thereupon like only herself...her player self, but still her player self was damn scared!

She steeled herself, took a deep breath and opened the door. Sexy ANBU Captain - whom she supposed she must now refer to as Jirou – stood before her looking so very...like a sexy ANBU captain.

"Hello," she said, her voice sounding more sheepish that she intended it to, _damn_.

"Hey," he was grinning boyishly and the kind of youthful, foolish quality it had to it helped to calm her jitters. "You ready?" Ino nodded and smiled and slipped her keys from the side.

He held out his hand to her as she turned from locking her door and she took it, only to be pulled forward into a kiss, it appeared he was starting the physical aspects of their 'relationship' early, or perhaps he was just making sure she was still up for it? Either way she accepted his lips without complaint and when he pulled back he was smiling, she was smiling.

"You look amazin'," he whispered, his hands twining fingers with hers and his startlingly blue eyes looking into hers. _God, what a charmer_, Ino thought as she forcefully prevented her spine from turning to jelly and a girly giggle from springing forth. Instead she laughed in such a way as to brush off the subject and discard it as silly, making her appear more modest than she actually was; in fact, she thought she looked pretty amazing in this outfit if truth be told.

They walked down the steps in silence, still looking over each other, she felt she should compliment him but suddenly found she didn't really know how to compliment a man on his looks. She couldn't use 'amazing' because he'd already began with that, and 'lovely', 'pretty' or 'beautiful' were too effeminate for what he was; she was loath to calling him sexy, even though it was what he was to her in her head.

They were walking to the right from her apartment, towards where the great stone faces loomed from their hilly home, and it suddenly struck Ino that she had no idea _where_ the party was actually being held.

"So, where actually is this party then?" she asked, happy to have something to say to break the silence. A steady flow of conversation continued and Ino began to wonder what exactly she'd been so nervous of.

XXXXXX

In the end the party turned out to be in the Jounin HQ, situated handily somewhat next to the Hokage's offices. One of the main rooms, surrounded on two sides by high glass windows that reached up into a second floor, which consisted of glass walkways and metal banisters along the sides of the walls and zigzagging across the middle, had been decked out finely with banners and streamers in gold and silver and a tables with royal blue table cloths upon which stood much alcohol and some food, and if one was so inclined as to look into the left corner at the left wall behind the buffet table, they would see Izumo and Kotetsu slumped in two easy chairs, yawning from their afternoon's toil.

Dotted around the room were high tables and tall chairs to accompany them, and at the back of the room the two glass doors had been flung open to circulate the crisp night air about the room, opening the party up further to the large garden which the whole building centred around with it's big koi pond and the typical bridge across the water.

The lighting was muted, partly because the room was half glass and the sky was black, but also because small, dim red lanterns were hung along the walls to add atmosphere. It had a strange ethereal, romantic feel and, since Ino had never been there before (since she was not a jounin), she was more captivated than most by the room's charm, however, she doubted it ever looked like it did then when it was in working use.

It was crowded when she arrived with Jirou and she was glad of it because that niggling nervousness was still there, even now. She began to wonder if her evening's companion really was the reason for it, because he was standing right next to her and the journey to the party and subsequent time they'd spent sitting and flirting at a sort of bar-like construct in the corner of the room had been so filled with physical contact and easy conversation that she now felt no hesitation in reaching out to him, whispering dirty things in his ear and snogging his face off. She liked it _because_ there was no need for awkwardness or nervousness...but, there it was, fluttering in her chest, even after she'd been at the party, being viewed and judged by others, for about two hours already; her appearance was also not a cause of her nervousness, neither was Jirou so...what was?

Although she was not a jounin she recognised almost every face in the room and so when Sexy ANBU Captain wondered off in search of more drinks since they'd almost cleared out the table nearest them, she didn't feel nervousness for being on her own, people weren't the problem, in fact she just walked in the direction of a familiar flash of pink that pervaded her vision and was soon face to face with Haruno Sakura. Sakura was standing with a segment from their ordinary group; Sasuke, Kiba, TenTen and Lee (and sort of Naruto and Hinata – the latter of whom had somehow managed to get drunk enough to actually make out in the corner with the blond).

A general greeting of 'hi's and 'hello's were said by the group, but Ino noticed not by Sasuke.

"Hello Sasuke," she said, because it was obvious he was ignoring her deliberately and it was also _always_ fun to stir up a stoic Uchiha into a flustering storm – not that it had ever been done before.

"Hello Ino," he answered back coolly, meeting her gaze with unwavering dark eyes. She could see the warning in his look, silently informing her that if Sakura found out he'd been attempting to hit on her she'd face some sort of a consequence (but Sakura was her best friend and she'd tell her as soon as they got time together) but there was also trepidation in his stare and it was oh so satisfying.

Ino looked away, hoping that her quick detachment conveyed she was bored with interaction with Sasuke.

"Hina's been drinking," Ino observed with raised eyebrows as she motioned over to the entangled shinobi in the corner of the room.

"Neji's just gone off to get drinks for everyone," TenTen said, smiling at the two mentioned, "they're making good use of the time they have." Ino laughed, Neji was too protective of Hinata and Ino was sure he was not the only Hyuuga who would attempt to sabotage their relationship, not that Neji had ever actively _done_ anything to sabotage it, but he had threatened, and set certain boundaries such as the 'no-making-out-with-Neji-in-the-vicinity' rule, which Naruto enjoyed to push at every opportunity.

"Where are your boys?" Sakura asked Ino as the rest of the group went back to their former conversation before Ino's arrival.

"I don't know actually," she answered, looking around the hall.

"You didn't come with them?" Sakura asked. Ino shook her head.

"Nope, I came with Sexy AN – er – Jirou," Sakura's eyebrows shot up.

"I didn't know you were seeing someone."

"I'm not," Ino answered back easily.

"You're not?" she responded in confirmation. Ino shook her head again.

"Just _seeing_ him."

"For how long?" Sakura asked, suspecting some sort of Ino revelation was about to take place, and sure enough it did. Ino shrugged.

"I don't know, tonight? If he's good, maybe tomorrow." Pink brows rose. "Sakura I've decided I'm going to stop moping after boys and start sleeping with them." Sakura let out a laugh.

"Do you have a shock quota every month that you have to fulfil or are you serious?" she asked, readying herself for being not at all surprised if she _was_ being serious.

"Nope, I'm serious, I'm a player." Ino winked provocatively but Sakura only nodded, knowing Ino was seeking a reaction. Ino suddenly hesitated, "but...don't tell Choji outright, I don't think he likes the idea."

"I doubt either of them _like _the idea." Ino shrugged.

"Don't think Shikamaru cares," she said coldly, but Sakura knew her friend well enough to know that her frosty tone was directed at Shika, not her.

"Oh god!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed, "Bed Bunny's looking over here, hide me, I'm so not in the mood for him." Ino looked in the direction of the 'Bed Bunny' only to see a particularly attractive brown haired shinobi smirking around a senbon, and he was staring directly at her; she couldn't help but smile, it sprung to her lips before she even consciously told herself to and she suspected it had something to do with the nervous butterflies that had just reached a crescendo in the stomach. He beckoned her over to where he was sitting alone, surveying the crowd, looking for the best piece of skirt in the room probably.

Just as Ino stepped forward to go to him warm flesh contacted with her arm and she turned to find those blue, blue eyes.

"Here," she was handed a glass with some strange red mixture in it.

"What is it?" Ino asked, peering at the drink. Jirou shrugged.

"It's alcohol, it's free, does it matter?" Ino laughed, noting how his eyes slipped to her mouth as she smiled. She couldn't completely let go when he kissed her, she wasn't that experienced yet, and her eyes were constantly on the look out for a relative or team mate so she could run as fast as she could in the other direction before she could be blamed for any damage inflicted on Jirou; she saw no hazards, just Sakura shaking her head slightly and Kiba nudging Naruto (who'd quickly returned to the circle when Neji reappeared), both staring with wide eyes. She didn't know why her stomach dropped when she caught sight of Genma out of the corner of her eye, smiling at a tall blonde that stood before him and patting the seat beside him.

Ino began to wonder if he ever _had_ been beckoning her over, or was it the busty blonde that sat next to him now, giggling and _touching_ him that he'd been hailing over to him. Her brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?" Jirou asked, apparently noticing her sudden lack of enthusiasm. His eyebrows were drawn together and his eyes were deep and enquiring.

"Oh, just...nothing." Unfortunately in the next second he was glancing behind her and narrowing his eyes at Genma and the blonde.

"Shiranui?"

"W...what about him?" _Ah! Stammering is not good!_

"You want him?" he asked. He wasn't angry, there was not a hint of it in his voice; instead he was just curious and it was really weird for there to be absolutely _no_ jealousy from someone she was going to sleep with, should she be okay with it?

"Er – no," _but kind of yes...again._

"If you're holdin' a candle for him then it's best to drop it now 'cuz he's not into that sorta relationship." Ino shrugged.

"I know, I was just looking," she replied sheepishly.

"Yeah?" Ino nodded, "after tonight you're not even going to remember his name," he smirked, his arms encircling her back, then leaning next to her ear he whispered in a low tone "because you'll have screamed mine 'till you're hoarse." Ino really had to catch herself from laughing, it wasn't necessarily that it was a funny thing to say (in fact it would have been quite sexy) just she remembered Genma almost warning her of his outlandish claim, and instead of swooning she found herself thinking - _if only!_

"I'll look forward to it," she decided upon in the end. She _needed_ him, she _needed_ this to get her started on casual sex because she was increasingly thinking that Genma did not count as he was becoming more than casual, more like a friend – or rather she _hoped_ he would become more like a friend, he seemed like a good guy to have around, whereas Jirou was pretty disposable. She thought on this quietly as Jirou began to pull her across the room, battling with her inner moralities at having 'disposable' sexual partners. _It's just sex,_ she chanted to herself, _sex is easy, you're protecting yourself._ She was almost convinced by the time he pulled her out into a side hallway, seeming to know his way around, and pulling her into a kiss.

"You wanna go somewhere?" he rasped onto her lips in such a way that she could not mistake the meaning of 'somewhere' or what they'd do in 'somewhere'. She nodded, feeling kind of dizzied by the excitement of the public place taboo they were just about to break.

She noticed the corridor he'd selected had many doors and the various names and ranks printed on silver plates on the front of those doors told that inside would be offices, vacant offices. She couldn't fault his lust clouded logic.

He was kissing her again before they even made it to the first door, and as they stumbled to it she idly thanked 'Yuuki Matsumoto: Head of Human Resources' for the loan of his office.

Ino managed to prevent an accident involving the glass of red mixture she still held in her hand by hurriedly thrusting it on to a side table, just before her whole body jolted as she collided with the door, her hands free to roam her partner.

Jirou was precise with his onslaught on her body, his tongue moved inside her mouth with firm, exact strokes and his hands navigated her body with mechanical precision. She began to think that he actually _may_ have the potential of making her scream his name that night...maybe.

As her hand reached down to cup his growing arousal his precision slipped a bit and he began to get just a tad more rough than before, which wasn't an unwelcome change, she liked him better without the perfection.

His hands slid up the back of her dress, cupping her ass, feeling the silky material of her underwear under his hands: he groaned, _thanks Genma_, she thought, taking his deep note of delight as a sign that he approved immensely of Genma's choice in underwear.

His chest was a firm wall of muscle, much like all shinobi's and as her hand dipped under the fabric of his shirt she felt the jagged ridge of a scar, quite a big one, running across his chest. She took happy pride in the fact that where _she'd _healed the gash on his head from when he'd been knocked out there was no scar at all.

His one hand was now on the door handle at her hip whilst the other moved to coil around her own, ready to pull her in to the darkness of the new room as soon as the door was opened.

Ino knew something was wrong as soon as he opened the door, for one, instead of seeing oppressive darkness reflected in her partners clear, blue eyes she could she the golden glow of the bulb from a table lamp, and when she expected to be assailed by the quiet and stillness of a room that has remained unused for a while she could feel the steady hum of chakra through the room, she could hear the sounds of other people, finally she could feel her partner's chest tense against her front, his fingers clenching around hers. Yuuki Matsumoto's office was already occupied, and as she slowly turned she noticed it was definitely not being occupied by the man himself, unless he'd morphed into either a familiar dark haired male or fair haired female.

The two parties stayed motionless in shock, one pair entangled on a red sofa, staring up at the adjacent twosome by the door, now connected only by their joined hands. It might not have been so bad if she hadn't known the people in that room, they could have just laughed and left with a murmured sorry, let them get back to it, but the shock of the two people, _him_ and _her_ doing _that_, hit her like a head on collision of girl and train.

"Shika," Ino breathed, tensing visibly. _Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch_, each thump brought pain and the uncomfortable fullness of emotion in her chest, a stinging in her eyes and an emptiness in her throat. She found she couldn't move, even when a timid greeting of, "Oh, hi Ino," came from the blonde, her spiky bunches no where to be seen, swept away as hurried hands ran though her hair, Ino imagined - _Ouch_, that just agitated it further. _Walk out the room_. The thought coincided with the tug of the hand attached to hers and the door was shut as her eyes were still fixed on the couple, leaving her inspecting the light brown lines in the polishes dark wood of the door.

"And I thought he was gay," Jirou drawled as Ino was spun around and again pushed into the wall, soon being treated to an assault of lips and teeth and tongue. She drew back slightly, startled, the romantic inside her was playing havoc on her consciousness. _Pull back, pull back! Now run away and cry!! _"Are you okay?" he asked, his brow furrowing at the sight of her watery eyes. _Oh shit I'm going to cry!_

"Er – yeah, I'm fine," she said, once again taking up her glass of the red alcohol and downing the barely touched mixture in one, "I'm just feeling a little – er – " she stumbled over her words as light headedness hit and she supposed that she shouldn't have drunk that fast, "need some air," she breathed, breaking out of his grasp and rushing head first into the crowded main hall, leaving a startled man staring after her wondering what he'd done.

XXXXXX

She felt stupid running away like a child but she really did just need to get away. She'd go back and find him in a little while, she reasoned, just long enough for her heart to stop aching and threatening to draw tears from her eyes. At first she'd gone and basked in the safety of Choji, but he'd quickly realised something was wrong and began a steady stream of integrating questions so she'd moved away, next coming to rest beside an almost complete set of the Rookie Nine (minus Shika, of course) in an attempt to loose herself from Choji who'd followed her.

In the end Shikamaru and Temari had emerged and joined the group, still kissing, still so absorbed in each other that it seemed no one around then mattered: Ino didn't matter. Neither even bothered to spare her a glance of embarrassment or make a joke about what she'd walked in on. They didn't comment on her former companion, they didn't look at her whatsoever; they just stared at each other, whispering and giggling together. She'd had _enough_!

In the very end she'd sought solace outside where no one else appeared to be, sitting on the bridge with her toes almost dangling in the water. Now she was alone she couldn't stop from crying, despite everything she'd told herself about being a player the romantic inside was once again causing havoc.

Genma swore to himself that in the beginning he'd only approached because he saw the perfect opportunity to corner a woman but he knew he was lying to himself. He wanted to talk to Ino and from the way she was sitting alone, staring despondently out across the pond it looked like things weren't going well with Jirou; he was shameless enough to admit that he saw this as a chance to swoop in and steal away Jirou's little ray of moonshine.

"Ino..." he began, but once he spoke he saw her jump, then fiercely wipe her eyes with her fingers.

"Oh shit," she mumbled, turning further away from him, "what are you doing here?" she asked.

"A...are you okay? Are you crying?"

"No! I'm just...I'm just..." but he was squatting next to her now, looking into her red eyes and tear streaked cheeks.

"You're just...leaking?" she exhaled a short laugh.

"Yeah, that's all," she said quietly. Genma sat down next to her, watching the way she turned herself away from him and leaned on the support of the bridge's handrail.

_Go away, please go away!_ Genma was the _last_ person Ino wanted to see. She wanted to seem cool and sexy and carefree to Genma and this was _really_ not portraying that image. What was worse was that even with him here she just couldn't stop crying! Her eyes were tingling with pent up tears and they just would not stop.

"Was he nasty to you?"

"No,"

"Did he say something?"

"No,"

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, I'm fi-"

"...force himself on you?"

"No!" she looked at him, surprise staring at him from her big blue eyes, "of course not!" Genma shrugged,

"Good, because if he has I swear to god I'll-"

"No, stop it, I'm fine."

"So...what _is_ wrong? You having a morality crisis?"

"Not really," she said quietly.

"Errm...did...someone insult you?"

"No." Genma was running out of reasons to cry.

"And you said you don't have a puppy?" Ino laughed.

"No I don't, and if someone did kick it I'd be kicking their head in, not crying."

"If I guess it will you tell me?" Ino thought about it for a moment then nodded her head. "Alright, girls only cry because of one of three things, sad films, boy trouble or hormones. You're not hormonal are you?"

"Don't think so."

"And you haven't been watching movies so...boy trouble?" Ino nodded glumly, "Is this about that sand girl again?" Ino nodded, her lip trembling.

"W...we walked in on them...her and Sh...Sh...ikamaru," she sniffled, her eyes watching the water resolutely, too ashamed to level with his gaze. She gulped, clearing the lump in her throat and seeming to regain some composure, "They've been so wrapped up in each other all evening, he hasn't even looked at me all night, not even said 'hi' to me, I'm his fucking team mate, we grew up together and now he just sees me as a...as a..." she was loosing it again and Genma realised it didn't matter what he saw her as because if he did see her as anything but amazing then he was an idiot. He felt a fierce need to protect Ino settle in his stomach and quickly enveloped her in his arms. _I wonder when I became Ino's support too?_ he asked himself.

"You're worth ten of her, Ino, _believe _me!" Ino snorted.

"Yeah, whatever."

"I'm serious! Look at you, you're the most fucking gorgeous girl ever! If you could hear the comments that I hear from all the lads about you then you'd know I'm not lying, I'm not just trying to make you feel better, everyone thinks you're beautiful."

"I don't _want_ everyone to think I'm beautiful!" Ino burst out, breaking away from him, "I want Shika to think I'm beautiful! I want him to look at me like he looks at Temari! It's not fucking fair! We're practically the same anyway, both blonde, both tall, both blue eyed, why's he being so picky as to go with her?" She slumped against Genma again, feeling his arm snaking around her shoulders and pulling her into him again.

"You're not the same at all, Ino," he said, feeling a strange sort of guilt that just that say he'd been eyeing up Temari, it felt now oddly like he was betraying Ino; he guessed he had been sort of betraying a friend. "And he's picky because he's an idiot, Ino," he said quietly, "he must be pretty dim for a genius: to not be able to see how amazing you actually are."

Ino again broke free of his arm and looked at him, her brows furrowed slightly.

"You don't believe that..." she whispered, not knowing if it was a statement or a question, did he believe that?

"Everybody does," he answered, suddenly noncommittal, suddenly looking away across the water. _God, she's doing those eyes again, big and round and pleading_. Genma had found he had to look away because her eyes were big and glossy and such a bright blue in the clear night light that it made an uncomfortable feeling fill him.

Ino heaved a sigh, "you're lying," she said, following suit and looking out over the pond, watching small fish weaving in and out of the tall water plants. There was a silence for a long time: Genma didn't know how to console her and Ino was trying to make it quite clear that she didn't want him there. She didn't want to loose her credibility in front of him and seem needy and obsessive. "I bet you think I'm stupid and needy now," she said glumly. Finally collecting his thoughts Genma took a long look at her.

"Ino, listen to me, remember what you said the other night? About how you get attached but other people don't want you?" Ino nodded, she could feel his eyes on her but didn't dare look at him or she felt she'd cry at how nice he was being to her, "Well, it's not a fault in you, it's a fault in them; it's a fault in Shikamaru, not you. Now you know you look amazing, you know it because you're a clever girl and you can see what's in front of you, you've got all those friends in there who love you, you're a successful kunoichi, you can fight and you can heal; you shouldn't be jealous of Temari...besides I bet red doesn't suit her, not with her skin tone." Ino laughed at his last sly comment and looked up to see his mouth was twisted into a smirk.

"You mean that?" she asked quietly, finally holding his deep chocolaty gaze.

"I mean that," he whispered back. _Now would be the perfect time to kiss her..._ "And one day someone – someone better than Shikamaru, more worthy of you – will wake up and realise just how amazing you are, and you'll be glad that Shika chose Temari, because you'll be so in love yourself that you won't care." That seemed to appease Ino's inner romantic; she was sold. "And in the meantime, having a little fun of your own won't harm things," he added with a suggestive wiggle of his eyes brows. She grunted out a laugh; Genma was being ridiculous and she knew he was just telling her these things to stop her from feeling bad but...she immediately felt ten times better.

She fell against him, nuzzling into his shirt; Genma _could_ have had a perfect view down her top, but he restrained himself: now was not the time.

"God," she huffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, "you must think I'm so pathetic."

"Nah, you're okay," he said, a smile evident in his voice as his arm encircled her shoulders and allowed her to lean against him. She huffed another laugh again.

"Really? Am I? I'm sure Jirou thinks I'm pathetic; I ran off after he pulled me out of the room, you know. God!" She ended exasperated, rubbing her palms into her eyes. "I'm so tired," she said heavily, leaning further against Genma so most of her weight was propped up by his chest. She felt Genma shrug.

"Yeah, well it was wishful thinking on his part trying to get with you, you're way out of his league, you're much better." Even though she knew he was just trying to make her feel better she smiled.

"Thanks Genma," Ino snuggled closer, feeling the warmth of his body and sensing his strong flow of chakra with her medic's abilities, it was nice, and so comforting. "You should go back," she said, feeling sleep pulling her in, "I'm really tired, I'm going to go home."

"It's okay, I'll take you back," he said easily, pulling her back against him, "the red stuff was spiked with vodka and I saw you knocking back your fair share." _And if I'm lucky you'll take me upstairs and let me do things to you that Jirou doesn't even dream of_.

"If you're sure," Ino sniffled, feeling emotional and woozy from the alcohol.

"Sure I am, but I'll have to tell Yuugao first."

"Who's Yuugao?" Ino asked, suddenly gripped with an immense terror that she was the gorgeous blonde he had been talking to earlier or someone else equally as beautiful that would accost her in public toilets and tell her things that would increase her self-consciousness.

"Come on," Genma said, getting up and holding a hand out to her, "you'll meet her."

XXXXXX

Yuugao turned out to be very beautiful but not the sort of sleazy, spend-a-night-with-Genma type that Ino was expecting. She had been standing with Raidou when they approached her and Ino had got the immediate impression that this purple haired woman was someone important to Genma. For a moment she thought to tell Jirou that she was going but having caught sight of him she saw him getting extremely close to a red headed kunoichi whom Ino had seen at the hospital a few times.

"Hey," Genma'd said as he slid a hand over Yuugao's back that finally settled on her shoulder, trying to shout over the music and noise of people in the hall, "I'm taking off, are you ready?" The purple haired woman's dark eyes glanced over Ino for a moment and it made her squirm, she could see the disdain and disgust in them; her confidence wavered. However what Ino didn't take into account was that her appearance also made Yuugao's confidence drop.

"Not yet," she said, "but you go if you're...busy."

"Well, I kind of am - Ino wants to go home, she's feeling tired. Here, Yuugao – Ino, Ino – Yuugao, you already know Raidou." Ino did already know Raidou but even so she wasn't sure why he was looking from herself to Genma with that smirk plastered on his smart face.

"Hi," Yuugao said, her dark gaze softening as recognition hit her, "you're Inoichi's daughter," she stated. Ino felt a mild irritation at the connection, it seemed everyone knew her as 'Inoichi's daughter' or 'the blonde girl from Shikamaru's old team'; even so she smiled broadly.

"Yeah," she said quietly, feeling immensely intimidated by the woman speaking to her, especially since her eyes were examining Ino's face and now Genma had moved over to Raidou and appeared to be angrily hissing something in the smirking man's ear.

"Are you okay?" Yuugao asked suddenly, her eyes narrowing, but out of concern not the disdain or disgust from before.

"Oh, yes I'm okay now just...erm..."

"Man trouble?" Ino smiled.

"Is it that obvious?" Yuugao shrugged.

"Girls only cry because of three things, sad films, boys or hormones."

"So I've heard," Ino said slowly, wondering what relation she was to Genma that they spoke the same words just minutes after each other. "I'm okay, I think I just need to sleep, I'm just tired."

"Did he cheat on you?" Yuugao persisted.

"No, not exactly."

"Did he hurt you?"

"Kind of."

"Doesn't know you exist?" Ino laughed. This woman was so incredibly intuitive, she wondered why.

"That's closer to it, but like I said I'll be okay once I'm home, and Genma's being nice to me so..."

"Yeah, he's good with crying women," she said, looking fondly at the brown haired man who had just taken out his wallet, flipping it open and handing Raidou a wad of money over to Raidou. Ino saw a blue condom sticking out of one of the vacant card slots_, that's wishful thinking_, Ino thought with a smirk. He saw them looking and suddenly stepped back from Raidou, smiling a benevolent smile.

"I'll just take Ino home if you want, I'll come back if you-"

"No," Yuugao interrupted Genma, "it's alright, Raidou will take me home, won't you Raidou," she looked at Raidou who sighed.

"Fine," he said.

"Oh, okay, if you're sure then," _all night with Ino! ...until she kicks me out._

Yuugao nodded, curling her arm around Raidou as they watched Ino and Genma navigate the crowd.

"You approve?" Raidou asked, astonished that the purple haired woman hadn't tried to stop Genma from going with just another blonde bimbo, like she usually did. Yuugao shrugged.

"I like her, she's not going to try and change him but...he likes her, I can tell. She's in love with someone else though," she stated matter-of-factly.

"How do you know that?" Raidou asked.

"I've studied people for a long time," she sighed, turning around and putting her arms around her friend, "take me dancing!"

XXXXXX

"You can leave me here if you want to..." Ino said quietly, as they stood at the end of her street, she knew he had a long walk back to his apartment that was about a mile in the other direction, but even so she couldn't help internally pleading _please don't leave me_!

"No, it's fine, I'll walk you to the steps," Genma said quickly. Ino smiled, _good,_ she thought.

"How long have you known Yuugao?" Ino asked, finally breaking the silence.

"A while," he answered shrugging.

"_How_ do you know her?"

"She went through a hard time, I helped her."

"What happened?" Ino asked, curious.

"You remember Hayate?" Ino shook her head, "You remember the Chuunin exams you took, the first set? He was the examiner but he got into a fight with a Sand shinobi – you know when they were working with Orochimaru. He was killed and she never got over it."

"You seem to like her a lot," Ino said, "are you two...are you...like...together, kind of?" Genma laughed.

"Jealous?" he asked, casting her a sidelong glance. Ino just echoed his laugh in response, her head tipping back and blonde hair cascading, it immediately reminded him of his dirty dream. _I'm getting inside her house!_ "No, we're close but not _that_ close. Not close like us," he said. It was obviously a fly away comment, he had meant they weren't close as in having sex close, but it still made warm feelings tickle her insides.

There was a pregnant pause, the silence was amicable and Ino even slid her arm around Genma's waist as the quiet caused her mind to prey on Shika and Temari, where were they now? What were they doing?

"So...we're here." They were standing at the steps that led up to her apartment. Genma glanced up at the steps, _here already? Damn._

"I'll walk you up," he mumbled, shuffling uncomfortably. That 'too familiar' tension was back and Genma wondered if Ino could feel it too, or if it were just him imagining things again.

"Okay," Ino smiled at his discomfort, it was cute, she actually did kind of enjoy making men uncomfortable...maybe she did have a dominatrix kink? She wasn't so worried by the stiffness of the air around them, but did wonder if it was caused by him worrying that she would invite him in, or him worrying that she would not.

They ascended the stairs in silence and didn't even speak once they'd made it to the top, neither did they say a word once they were standing outside Ino's door. Genma wondered if she was waiting for him to go but she wasn't opening the door, she wasn't even trying to find her keys, she was just standing there her eyes avoiding his and flickering over the wall of her house.

"So...thank you," she said, looking up at him and smiling, "and...I'm sorry." Genma shrugged.

"Don't be, it's fine; you've got a big heart, Ino, sometimes it's just difficult to let go of people." Ino let out an ironic laugh.

"Oh yeah? Do _you_ ever have that trouble?" He didn't say anything, only smiled down at her sadly then averted his gaze, there was just too much emotion in her eyes; they were sparkling and unnerving him. He'd never seen anything like it.

They stood not looking at each other for a second longer and Genma was just about to ask if he could use her bathroom (because at least then he'd be _inside_ her house and making headway) when she turned away and began to fiddle with the lock and key, cursing gently under her breath when the key in her hand misbehaved.

_Am I being dismissed?_ He speculated, but he didn't move just in case, just in case she was going to ask...

"Do you...er...do you wanna come in? For...like...coffee or something?" She had turned back to him and her pupils were huge, ringed with a tiny section of the clearest blue, and she must not have known that she was doing it but she was idly raking her teeth over her lower lip; her expression one of anticipation and supplication. She looked so good, there was just no denying her.

"Yeah, okay," he said coolly. She smiled at him and their gazes locked for just a fraction longer than was necessary, not long enough for Genma to convey his silent question of a bed for the night but long enough for him to have an inkling that she was heading that way too.

Ino headed into her house and straight into the kitchen. Butterflies were beginning to stir up in her stomach as she thought about the possible implications of having Genma in her apartment again. It was a good thing to ponder; it was making her forget her sad love life in favour of an exciting sex life. Somewhere inside her there was a part of Ino that disagreed with this, it was the hopeless romantic part, a part of her that said she should be in bed with hot chocolate and tissues, crying in the hopes that the doorbell would ring and it would be Shikamaru, come to rescue her from her woes; she had spent so many nights like this already.

The new part, the part she associated with Genma, told her that Shikamaru hadn't rung her doorbell to save the day yet and the chances of it happening in the future were slim to none. Forget about it, focus on the tall, muscular shinobi that actually _is_ walking through your front door: which she decided was her new life motto.

Ino filled up the kettle but hesitated from flicking it on. She could sense Genma standing very close behind her. They both pretty much understood by now he wasn't there for coffee, unless it was on the morning after.

She turned in the enclosed space he gave her and immediately found herself pressed to the side board.

"You don't want coffee, do you...?" she couldn't decide whether it was a question or a statement because she was struggling with the idea of anybody wanting her, why wasn't Genma running after Temari as well? She was _obviously_ so much better than Ino.

Genma smirked.

"Not coffee," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her. It very quickly became heated and both sets of hands very quickly became inquisitive and adventurous.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered in between kisses. "He's a fucking idiot," he murmured and it made Ino smile sadly; she didn't think Shika was a 'fucking idiot', but she could pretend for now because Genma was making it difficult for her to disagree with him.

His hands were already fumbling with the hem of her dress whilst hers were retaliating in loosening his belt.

He lifted her up onto the kitchen surface, skirt bunched up around her hips. He was eyeing her panties appreciatively and marvelling at the irony that he had previously felt so vexed that their charm would not be used on him. Strangely enough though, for all their aesthetic appeal his main concern at that moment was taking them off her. From his view point he could see where the silky material at apex of her thighs was stained a darker shade as if it were a tempting prelude to what he'd find underneath, and the thought of what he _would_ find made a groan erupt from his throat that sounded like a feral growl to his ears.

He felt her tug the hair at the back of his head and looked up, only to be assaulted by her lips, pushing up against his and immediately taking the initiative by filling his mouth with her tongue. He could feel her hands still working on freeing him as every now and then her fingertips or palms brushed his erection which was now stretching painfully away from his body, and the fiction was good.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," he whimpered against her swollen lips, helping her lift off the side for a second so he could remove her red panties, and hoping to god she wouldn't mind if he just pushed into her as soon as he got free because he didn't feel as though holding back to make _absolutely _sure she was catered for was an option, not like last time anyway.

But Ino felt much the same as he did. Her centre was thrumming with sensitivity and heat and she felt a hollow pulse between her legs, urging her to achieve completion, and completion was so close. She finally scrambled his belt open and pulled the zip down only to be confronted with...skin.

"Hm, interesting," she murmured, commenting on his lack of underwear.

"No, practical," he panted.

By the time his trousers were out the way so as they wouldn't interfere they were kissing again and he was immediately at her entrance. Genma could feel her heat and her juices coating the head of his cock but the glorious feeling was immediately followed by the remembrance of annoyingly time consuming protocol.

Ino saw his hesitation and so reached into the back pocket of his trousers, slipping out his wallet and flicking it open, in search of the condom she had seen in there earlier. At first Genma had been watching her, watching the movement of her hands as they came back into view with his wallet and take out the packet inside, but then her hands were on him and he couldn't stop his head from falling forward onto her shoulder with a quiet groan as his eyes slid shut.

He began kissing her neck and nuzzling her hair as she handled him, for some reason finding her taking control of the proceedings extremely sexy; he could feel her hand sliding lingeringly up his length once she had rolled on the condom. He could only groan again, before taking her hand in his and moving it out the way, placing it over his shoulder and readying his hands on her hips for entry.

"Yeah?" he breathed against her lips, because 'are you ready?' was too much effort and required too much oxygen which he was lacking greatly. She nodded quickly, her head shaking vigorously.

"Yes, yes!"

He slid into her first an inch at a time but ending in one hard thrust as he was encased in her. She arched back, her canal tightening with her movement and stretching with his intrusion. His moan was muffled into her skin but hers was sent out into the air, a breathy note that made his hair stand on end; it was _so _erotic.

His hands cradled her ass, his palms and fingertips revelling in her soft skin. For the first time he realised how his skin was a shade darker than hers as he glanced down at where their bodies connected, it sent a new jolt of pleasure through him.

Ino began to move restlessly against him, desperately seeking stimulation. He lifted his eyes to her face and caught her gaze, his hands tightening involuntarily with what he saw there: it was raw and lustful and ready.

His hips pushed forward without any conscious effort at all, he wasn't being powered by his brain anymore, more by the look in her big, blue eyes that coaxed him into action without really trying. She met his every stroke, every up thrust was met by her squeezing down on him and every time he stayed against her for a fraction of a second longer she ground onto him, wanting as much contact as was possible.

"God, that's good," he hissed as her hips moved in tiny circles, her walls massaging him and his pubic bone grinding into her clit, eliciting soft moans from her. She looked amazing, completely caught up in the feeling, her pink lips parted and her head tipped back. She'd fall back against the wall if it weren't for her death grip on his shoulders and his similar death grip on her rear, in both cases nails grated on flesh and in both cases the pain of this was completely inconsequential, especially when there were so many more pleasant sensations to focus on.

Genma was driving into Ino, much harder than he had last time, she noted. Also they weren't kissing as much as they had been last time, both favouring to simply pant out their pleasure into the air, which was a job in itself. However the intimacy of kisses was replaced by his gaze, expertly trained on her face, soaking up the pleasure in her eyes as if it were his own and forcing her to look back at him, right deep into his brown, brown eyes, watching them change as his face contorted in pleasure when she pushed harder or got wetter or tightened around him as her body prepared for release.

Genma's grip suddenly tightened even more. _Oh fuck, I'm going to come,_ he thought, _I'm going to leave her behind_, and was just about to remedy the situation when Ino moved independently in a way that kind of shocked him_._

Ino was daring herself to do something. He was so close, she could feel him swelling inside her and straining against her, his hips loosing their perfect, smooth rhythm and instead jerking raggedly into her pelvis. His lips parted and his breath fanned out across her cheek in little groans and whimpers, but she wasn't ready yet. She had been too focused on the sustaining what she was feeling, that mounting pleasure which caught all the other thoughts and emotions that swirled in her mind and swept them away as new flurries of ecstasy and desire swooped in to fill the spaces they left. She had not been centred on her release, she needed to do something.

Her hand left his shoulder and fumbled down their bodies to where they were connected. He felt her shiver when her fingers found the bundle of nerves and her inner muscles immediately tightened around him, urging him to release, urging her to release, but he wouldn't. He was watching her satisfy herself with a frown on his face, eventually his thrusts got shallower and then stopped.

Genma caught Ino's wrist in his hand, she looked up.

"What?" she asked, suddenly very worried he was offended.

"I'm supposed to do that, not you!" he insisted. She flushed pink, embarrassed and kind of ashamed. She felt silly and sort of...humiliated and so it obviously morphed into anger in her head.

"Well if you could hold out long enough to-"

Genma tutted from above her and shoved two of his fingers into her mouth, withdrawing the two wet digits slowly.

"Genma, what the hell?" His fingers snaked down drawing a saliva trail as soon at it contacted with the skin on her stomach down to the blonde curls of her pubic hair. She watched in fascination as they disappeared into the mesh of entwined bodies and then there was pleasure. Lots of pleasure. Her fingers dug into him with renewed vigour, but this time her head was rested against his shoulder, feeling the sweat that coated his skin through his shirt and gasping into the material.

"Genma!" she was instantly whimpering his name, just like she'd been in his dream, he noted with some amusement, and he knew, or he thought he knew, this was a sign that meant she was fast approaching orgasm. _Thank god_, he thought, as he resumed his thrusts.

She'd got so much wetter since his fingers were working her sensitive flesh and the heat and moisture immediately set off his insides. He felt his muscles tightening for his orgasm.

"Ino," he moaned out, caught up in the euphoria of pre-release but trying to keep his fingers co-ordinated with what his brain was telling them to do. "Ino, I'm going to come."

The sound of his voice was what caused the first spark to hit her, followed by more that ignited and raged throughout her body. Her hips jerked against his and her legs quivered around him. She whimpered into his chest, hands fisting in his shirt.

The two fingers emerged from her folds and came up to tilt her chin up, she could feel the wetness of her juices on them but she didn't care, she was high on what he'd just given her. Her head was yanked up and she was brought into a kiss that was sloppy and all tongues and saliva and mouths sealed together. He was coming, she could feel it in the suffocating feeling that suddenly swelled inside her sex and the long broken groan that he released into her mouth; he became very still.

Her hands released his shoulders whilst his slithered out from underneath her and then he crumpled against her, lolling heavily on her torso with his head, resting on her shoulder.

"That was fucking sexy, but don't do it with me," he panted, moving blonde hair from sticking to his face with sweat, "you need to come? - you tell me, I'll take care of it."

"How considerate," she murmured and he wasn't sure if it was sarcasm from some residual anger or a genuine comment. Either way he didn't respond to it, he was still heavily under the effects of the endorphins swirling around in his blood stream.

"I'm tired," he whispered into her ear. She hummed her agreement to him and kissed his ear that was just in reach.

"I'm going to bed," she said, pushing him away and getting off the side. She picked up her panties from the floor and slid into them, then, made a show of unzipping and slipping out of her dress ever so slowly.

"Tease," he panted from the side board. She just shrugged as she walked towards her bedroom but looked back to smirk at him before she reached the doorway.

_So this is me _really_ being dismissed then?_ he wondered as he watched the absolute vixen pause by the door and look back at him again, but this time with enquiry on her face. He felt kind of sad to be going, he had looked forward to spending the night with Ino and not having to wake up at the crack of dawn to sneak away, and it had been like that a lot of late, too many early mornings. He was getting worse at choosing the 'up for it' women he realised, and Ino had proved that because she _had_ been on his definite 'no – too clingy' list.

"Are you coming?" she asked, watching him watching her. He felt surprise and then a rush of excitement.

"I thought..." he paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her in that red lingerie, her unblemished silken skin pulling taut over her stomach muscles and hips contrasting beautifully to the two full, fleshy mounds encased in red silk, both at her front and behind: a delightful contrast of full and slender; what he had thought suddenly left his head, "...yes I am," he said, smiling and pulling his shirt off over his head, following Ino inside her room and closing the door with a slam.

XXXXXX

Well...that was a long slog. I'm not sure about this one because I wrote half of it then broke my laptop charger : so I spent the rest of the week having to do traditional things like reading and writing things on...paper!! :O SHOCK!

Sorry for mistakes, there may be loaaaads! But I wanted to get it out so I put it up anyway. So sorry.

So review if you're feeling kind if not then it's okay :) xx.


	6. Vexation

Number 6! Out quicker than I thought.

**Warning:** bad language and adult scenes! Be careful with it.

Please enjoy and review if you would like!

* * *

The light was hardly permeating the dark curtains when Ino woke up and the room was still sheathed in the rosy glow of dawn. It wasn't the daylight that woke her up. Her alarm was off as she had no work in the morning and her apartment was still from the night and its inhabitant's motionlessness. It wasn't noise that awoke her.

Ino rolled over sleepily, squinting at the clock on her bedside table, it read five thirty. She rubbed her eyes, stretching out in her big empty bed and becoming vaguely aware that something was amiss in her apartment. Her sleepy mind was telling her something was out of place but her more precise consciousness could not tell what it was. She slid a hand under her duvet, absently running her index finger over a scar that lightly traced the skin just below the curve of her breast.

_I'm naked_, she thought, _that's odd._ But it didn't matter because she reminded herself that it was five thirty in the morning and whatever was amiss would probably still be amiss at an appropriate hour as well.

It smelt strange, she realised absently: it smelt of coffee.

"Coffee..." she mumbled aloud, "why does it smell of coffee?"

Something was tickling at the back of her mind; coffee was significant, but she couldn't recall why. The events of the previous night were hazy; she knew she'd been drinking (that was fairly obvious from the slight ache at her temples and the taste on her tongue) and so to not remember the night before didn't surprise her. She lay in bed, straining her brain, forcing herself to remember; she remembered a party in a big glass room, and a red drink, and Shikamaru, and something significant to do with coffee...but that was as much as her brain was willing to give her, especially after she'd mistreated it the night before and filled her blood stream with alcohol.

She decided to sleep instead, it was bloody early and just as she would eventually come to know what was amiss, she'd remember what she'd forgotten in the end.

Ino took a deep breath and snuggled into her pillow, it smelt strange, like a clean hair smell and something almost metallic mixed with something musky and masculine, in fact it was then that she noticed that this smell was surrounding her, it was on her duvet, on her sheets on _her_...and only then did she realised, with a flood of memory, what was odd about this morning as apposed to any of the others. It was the smell; a smell had woken her and another had roused her consciousness. As she sniffed the air she once again identified the pungent aroma of coffee, and as she picked up the pillow next to her and pressed her nose to it she smelt Genma and sweat and sex.

Genma was there...or at least Genma had been there. Ino looked over the edge of the bed, holding the duvet to her chest to cover herself and found no clothes strewn over her bedroom floor. She flopped back into her bed, groaning slightly as the room span a bit and disappointment flooded her stomach; she had been looking forward to waking up with another person for a change.

"Hey," Ino jumped and stared at the door. Genma stood there in a pair of white boxers, his hair a little tangled and a suspicious red bite mark on his shoulder. She blushed sheepishly, and put it in her mind to heal it later even though he'd probably protest, wanting to show it to his friends like it was a mark of achievement; she supposed it was.

"I thought you'd left!" Ino said, sitting up against the pillows and smiling widely; the rush of happiness she felt at seeing the man before her both elated her and unnerved her. Genma passed her a funny look.

"No, why would I leave?"

"I don't know, you're clothes were gone." Her smile had dropped, she forced herself to subdue the feelings stirring within her; she recognised she was far too happy to see him than she should be and she didn't want it to be like that, it was _just sex!_ not whatever she could feel the beginnings of stirring in her chest. He pointed to the chair at her dressing table, where a bundle of crumpled clothes could just be discerned.

"They're there; I fell over them when I got up so I moved them."

"Oh," Ino said weakly.

"D...do you want me to leave?"

"No! It's fine, I just thought that you had gone, that's all," _and I was disappointed_, but she'd never say it – it would be a sure fire way to get him out the door like a shot.

"Are you sure? I mean if you've got work so something-"

"No, it's fine, I want you to stay," _damn, I shouldn't have said that_.

"Good." He moved from the door, carrying two cups, "I made coffee, I hope that's okay," he said, handing her one of her green and purple striped mugs which she drank from straight away, trying to wash the disgusting morning after taste of alcohol off her tongue.

"Course it is," she watched as he set his cup on the bedside table, "I didn't know you were house trained," she grinned at him. He shrugged, crawling into the bed.

"I'm just a brilliant house guest," he murmured, leaning across to kiss her; he tasted of coffee Ino thought with a smile, but then she guessed she did too. Genma rested back and sat up against the pillows, yawning and stretching as he did so. Ino watched the movements of his muscles as he stretched, glad she could see them from a closer range this time; she eyed the way they rippled with his movement and imagined the dormant power that slept within them – it was a lovely thought. She let the cover drop from her chest, feeling smugly satisfied as his eyes were drawn to her soft breasts and taut, ninja-trained stomach which she had always thought too masculine and brawny.

She set her coffee beside Genma's, resolute upon touching the hard planes of his torso, and snuggled under the covers, hugging his waist, her head resting on his muscled stomach. She felt more than heard Genma sigh as he retrieved the senbon that was sticking out of his coffee mug with one hand, whilst the other came around to lazily tangle in her mussed blonde hair. "Sorry if I woke you up," he said, looking down at the sleepy woman resting on him with her eyes closed and her breaths coming out hot and heavy, warming the skin of his stomach.

"It's okay, but I never had you down as an early riser." Genma exhaled a short laugh.

"No, I'm not, not really but I suppose when I sleep away from home I usually have to get up early, you know? Be it a mission or...well...or-"

"Or running away from unsuspecting women?" Ino was looking up at him amusement in her fatigue dulled eyes.

"Yeah, that; but it's necessary; it just gives them ideas otherwise," he said, matter-of-factly as he took up his mug again and commenced drinking.

"Hmm," she hummed agreement into his skin, it still smelt lightly of sweat and sex and she wasn't surprised because when she thought about it they'd kept going almost all night until only a few hours ago and she was so tired.

Ino was so comfortable and so _happy_. She had no idea why she was happy (it was quarter to six in the morning!) but lying there on a man - a very attractive one as well - and feeling his fingers gently stroking her hair was the most pleasant thing in the world. _You shouldn't be doing this_, a horrible practical voice told her,_ you're getting attached aren't you? You should get off him or...or have sex with him! Stop cuddling!_ Her body decided to remedy the contrary feeling with sleep and her eyelids began drooping, even as she strived to keep them open she just couldn't.

Genma could feel Ino's eyelashes fluttering against his stomach, it tickled and brought a smile to his face, especially as he looked down at his blonde bed mate: she was a figure of serenity, like an angel was sleeping on him, he couldn't help _but_ smile: half at the sight of her and half out of derision for himself at being so mushy. _An angel!?_

Waking up with Ino had been a wonderful thing, although in the life he led he found waking up with any woman quite a joy because it was such a rarity. He had forgotten that a sleeping woman could look fragile and beautiful and so sexy and Ino certainly had been. She had been warm and snuggled up beside him, lying on her back, her head to the side with her nose pushed into his shoulder and an arm splayed out opposite. It hadn't been physically difficult to extract himself because he had been lying facing her on his side, with one leg still pressed in between hers from their earlier activities and one arm crossed over her chest, lightly gripping her splayed arm's bicep. It hadn't been _physically_ difficult because he was on top and could easily remove himself, but mentally it was quite a task. Genma liked to think, as he had watched Ino's eyes moving behind her eyelids before he rose, that her sleep was the sleep of a satisfied woman, one who had been well and soundly fucked and enjoyed every moment of it, and he was loath to move off her because he wanted to be that sort of person, the sort who could be well and soundly fucked and sleep a satisfied, guiltless sleep afterwards. But he couldn't. So he'd got up.

Genma wondered if he'd ever be satisfied in the way Ino had looked then, and now, he mused as he stared at her tranquil face. She looked self-assured and happy, he'd never been like that, especially this soon after sex. Usually he'd sneak out of the girl's house early in the morning, go home, feeling like shit, fall asleep, wake up in his own bed with his own things surrounding him then go out with his own friends and everything would be okay again; he'd feel substantiated in the world again. Yuugao had once tried to explain this to him, how Hayate had made her feel validated and then she'd tried to explain to him how when he slept with women he was trying to validate himself, but ultimately it would not work because none of them really cared about him, they weren't on the same wavelength, and now, after so long of doing the same thing, he shied away from anyone who tried to help him. He'd just snorted a laugh at her, discarding what she said as girly silliness even though he knew it was right. But the psychology of a shinobi was never a safe thing to dabble in and so he'd forgotten it as inconsequential detail, something that need not be thought of nor worried about.

Sex was impersonal to him. Sex was the easy option. Sex provided him with temporary verification even if it was followed by him feeling like a big fat fraud afterwards; he was okay with it, he'd learnt to work with it. But lying there with Ino, all wrapped up in her, seeing her lips curling into a smile, knowing (or at least thinking he knew) that she wouldn't suddenly run off or kick him out, and realising _he _had made her sedate and happy made him feel really, really good for a change; a sort of addictive goodness, he felt like they shared a common connection. He'd had this for one morning, Yuugao had had it for seven years and he could imagine that breaking the addiction after that length would be the most difficult thing in the world.

"I think I understand Yuugao a bit better now," Genma said quietly. Ino made a slight movement, just a small readjustment of her position.

"How so?" she mumbled.

"Well, imagine waking up like this every morning and then one day it just ends and there's nothing you can do to change it." Ino tilted her head up to look at him hating the nice swirls that sprouted in her stomach when he implied waking up with her was nice.

"You think she grieved because she missed having someone to sleep on?" she replied cynically, trying to kill the conversation. It was too personal, they were not in a personal relationship, it was _just sex_. Genma shrugged.

"Well, not only that, but I just think I understand it now, I understand what she missed." Ino furrowed her brows in puzzlement; she had no idea what he was talking about but she knew the conversation had to finish and so she decided to divert his attention from emotional topics to what their relationship was _supposed _to be based on. She slid up his body, her hand staying down to inch up his thigh under his boxers.

"You say funny things," she whispered as her lips came level with his. Genma just shrugged again, supporting her head with his hands and slipping the senbon from his mouth as their lips met. Genma pulled back abruptly, remembering something he meant to say.

"Ino," he began, his eyebrows furrowing in seriousness, "I found something out this morning." Ino pulled his face back, kissing him deeply before he backed off again.

"What?" she asked breathlessly, wanting to kiss him, wanting him to kiss her.

"Well, I have it on good authority that..." _oh shit, that what?_ Ino wondered. "...that you are a sex pig."

Her eyes clouded in confusion for a second before widening with recognition.

"You pervert!" she cried, pricking him with his own weapon, the senbon, and casting weary eyes over to her underwear drawer; sure enough it was open a crack with the strap of a blue bra poking out of it. "Who gave you permission to go snooping around in my underwear drawer?"

"Hey, I was bored - you were asleep, you can't condemn me for it, I'm sure you would have done the same." Ino opened her mouth then closed it again, remembering how she was musing over Genma's underwear just the other day.

"Would not," she mumbled, settling herself back down but this time so she was settled comfortably astride his lap.

"Anyway, you could have told me, sex pigs are very rare – uh – ouch," Genma rubbed the sore spot on his chest where Ino had just hit him, once again turning embarrassment into anger, but she wasn't really angry, not _really_.

"You shouldn't be snooping around ladies' underwear drawers," she admonished him with a light reprimanding tap on his nose. He caught her fingers, bringing them down to rest on his chest, as his other hand slid into her hair.

"You're not a lady," he whispered against her lips, "I think we've just established you're a sex pig." She punched him again but he just laughed at her attempt, to be fair to her she wasn't trying very hard; she was just glad he hadn't got scared off by the other weird underwear in there. In the end Genma had caught both Ino's fists in his hands and smiled up at her, "you do have some strange things in there Ino, I never had you down as a dress up kind of girl." Ino grimaced.

"No, I'm not, in fact it makes me feel inadequate and unsexy," she said firmly, telling Genma what she had always rehearsed to say to boyfriend number two but never quite got round to using the words.

"Then why do you have them?"

"My ex-boyfriend gave me them, they're hideous." Genma just shrugged.

"I kinda liked the leopard print thong," he said, grinning lasciviously, "but I don't get the tail."

"Yeah, neither did I - that's why he's my _ex_-boyfriend." Genma widened his cheeky grin.

"You know, you should introduce him to Anko, I think they'd get on swimmingly."

"No, Anko wouldn't stand for him, I've heard her at the bathhouse – she's vicious if she doesn't get her orgasm."

"What? He couldn't handle her?"

"No way! He couldn't handle me and I'm hardly at Anko standards."

"Poor Ino," he said, mocking sympathy with a childish pout. She felt his hands snaking up her back, "why did you stay with him if he couldn't get you off?" _Because I'm needy, _Ino thought glumly; that really was why she'd stayed with him for so long, she kept thinking one night he'd call up and not want her to dress in ridiculous outfits, or not spend five minutes each night ploughing into her just to fall lax on top of her once he'd come and promptly fall asleep. She'd tried to make it feel happy and meaningful with a boyfriend - with a few boyfriends - but it hadn't worked and although she was having a slight trouble letting go of Shika, she knew that sleeping around would do her good...or at least she hoped it would. She hadn't been validated with boyfriends but perhaps having casual lovers would help her find herself?

"I don't know," Ino decided on, waving a nonchalant hand in the air, "I dumped him eventually, it's all in the past." Genma smiled, _good_, he thought, _and she's all mine for the morning._

"You're a player now," he murmured, as he ran his hands along the outline of her body.

"Um hum." There wasn't much more she could say, she didn't want to start another conversation when he was offering sex; _am I a man?_ Ino wondered vaguely.

Genma once again trailed eager hands up Ino's back, sliding into her hair as they encountered it and using that position to pull Ino forward to him. She moaned lightly as their lips touched, immediately slanting her face so she could meet his tongue with hers and explore his mouth fully. Her hands dragged up his naked chest, landing on his shoulders and lightly massaging the skin with a medic's accuracy, kneading out the tension.

"You're good at that," he murmured, breaking from her lips and kissing her cheek then down along her jaw line. Her eyes were wide open, he noticed, and she was staring at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes, blinking lazily. "Too early?" he whispered huskily, against her skin, blowing out hot breath over her cheek.

"Hmm," was all she gave by way of an answer, then sleepily, "how are you not tired?"

"Stamina," he rasped, his mouth travelling down, along the column of her neck and to the soft fleshy destination of her breasts; he nuzzled her yielding flesh, teasing her sensitive, young skin by brushing lips over tightened nipples. Her back arched, tingles of awareness racing down to her stomach as he slid his hands around her to support her at the small of her back as her spine flexed backwards.

His mouth descended on the pink peeks of her breasts at the same time as he shuffled his hands down to her rear and pulled her forward, allowing her to feel his hardness under her exposed folds. Her resultant gasp was extraordinary and the sound vibrated down to his groin, fuelling his lust for her and urging him to flex his hips up, creating a pleasurable grind over the material of his underwear.

Ino's head was swimming; the stimulation was just too much, almost to the point of pain, especially since she was feeling sensitive after their near all night frolicking, and she felt tingles rise in her stomach, threatening to push her into ecstasy far too soon.

"Stop, stop," she groaned out, fisting his brown hair between her fingers and pulling his head up to greet his lips with hers. The kiss was short and succinct but hot, their lips sealed together and tongues battling mercilessly with each other.

"How do you feel today-" Genma was cut off as their lips came back together, hands becoming more urgent on each other's skin.

"Hm?"

"About Shika...maru," his name was cut off by a sharp intake of breath as Ino began to push down harder on him, intensifying the friction between them. She did _not_ want to talk about Shikamaru anymore, for one she could barely remember what had happened to make her cry over her team mate all night, and two she knew she'd made a mistake in letting Genma console her the night before, she was getting far too attached even after four days and Ino just couldn't trust herself. _It's just sex!_

Ino made a face, "Why are you thinking about that now?" she asked, her breath coming out in pants and her flushed face indicating that some other activity other than talking was on her mind.

"You were upset last night," he breathed back, "I didn't like seeing you upset."

"I'm fine," she said, once again attempting to avert the conversation by the promise of sex, her fingers teasing the skin under the elastic waistband of his boxers. Even though pleasure was coursing down his body, especially since her hand had finally slipped into his underwear and was gently brushing along his length, he managed a disbelieving look. "I was drunk!" Ino insisted, "I was shocked and emotional, that's all. Besides it's nothing to do with you." Genma's incredulous expression turned into concern and maybe the slightest hint of anger.

"Of course it is, it became something to do with me when I found you crying on your own then you shanghaied me into having sex with you!"

"I never..." Ino found herself getting far too angry, and so she stopped, removed her hand, took a deep breath and began again. "I did not 'shanghai' you into sleeping with me, Genma," she said firmly, "and if you felt that way you had all night to go home. It's not like I confined you."

"Why can't you just answer a straight question?"

"I did! I said I was fine."

"And you're obviously not!"

"How the hell do you know?"

"Because of how you were last night, because of how you're acting now!"

"That's _nothing_ to do with you!"

"Why not?" Ino flashed angry, disbelieving eyes at him, why didn't he get it?

"It's personal!"

"So, _this _isn't personal?" he asked, gesturing between the two of them. Ino backed up so she could not longer feel his length beneath her.

"No! Is it personal for you?" He didn't know how to answer; no, it wasn't really personal for him but he'd sort of thought that they might be friends, like friends with benefits, not just people who shagged every now and then. The sex they had wasn't personal but the time he spent with her kind of was. Looking back though, he didn't know why he'd thought that.

"No, I guess it's not then." he answered angrily. They glared at each other; Genma still had not removed his hands from Ino's back.

"It's _just sex_, Genma!" she cried irritably. Genma blinked at her, opened his mouth, then closed it. He took a deep breath restraining his anger; it was true, it was just sex, she never promised friendship.

"Fine," he said, his eyes revealing fury despite his calm tone, "let's have sex then."

Ino exhaled angrily.

"No!"

"Why not? It shouldn't matter to you." Ino was still glaring at him, her blue eyes narrowed and her pupils tiny.

"Why are you being so-"

"Ino!" another voice penetrated through the walls and floated into the room.

The front door banged. Both stayed perfectly still.

"Shit!" Ino murmured, her head snapping towards the door. Her reaction was exactly echoed in Genma's. They had both identified the voice as that of the dark haired lazy ANBU strategist, Shikamaru Nara.

"What should we do?" he whispered, his eyes fixed on the door along with Ino's.

"You have to get out!" she hissed, "I really don't want him to know about..." she was stopped by the look on his face; Genma's lips were twisted down into a frown and his eyebrows were drawn together.

"Are you ashamed?" he hissed back.

"Please don't do this now," she pleaded in hushed tones, staring imploringly into his brown eyes.

Genma very almost relented, his insides reacting to two big, blue innocent eyes and all the encouragement she had given him previously; but he felt angry and sort of humiliated that she was shunning him. He wasn't used women doing that, he didn't like it.

"Fine," he huffed, getting up, even as she was still on him (resultantly tipping her off his lap and onto the bed rather unceremoniously) and beginning to violently tug on his shirt and trousers.

"Ino!" a knock on her bedroom door, "can I come in?" Ino hurried to pull on a dressing gown, giving an angry Genma one last glance before slipping out her bedroom door, pulling it quickly closed behind her.

"Hey," she murmured, smiling nervously at the man at the other side of her bedroom door, "what's up Shikamaru." Shikamaru wasn't looking at her, instead his eyes were fixed on the sliver of her bedroom that had appeared as she had slipped through the crack that was now obscured by the door's wood.

"I – er – do you want some tea?"

"Tea?"

"I need to talk to you, do you want some?"

"Yeah, okay," Ino said, feeling strange that her impromptu guest was offering her tea in her own house. "Let me get dressed."

Shikamaru was quicker this time, his eyes fixed on what was behind the door as Ino re-entered her bedroom, closing the door behind her firmly. In that second Shikamru saw everything in Ino's bedroom he needed for his genius mind to click everything into place: the messy bed sheets, the various condom packets, the two coffee cups, the open window and finally the senbon lying on the white sheets, glinting like a clue in the light of the early morning sun.

_How troublesome_, Shika sighed as he clicked on the kettle and took out two clean cups, _she's been Genma-ed_.

XXXXXX

Genma landed on the grass outside Ino's window with a ninja's precision but also a big scowl on his face. _So much for all morning with Ino_ he was grumbling to himself as he recovered an upright position and stepped out of the flowers and bushes and onto the pavement that ran around the apartment block. He looked up at Ino's window, hoping perhaps she might emerge there and smile and wave or blow him a kiss and then everything might be okay between them, but then he realised even if she did do that he's just scowl at her and sulk off.

He had mission reports to do and so yielded to the practical voice inside him that had been telling him to stop playing with pretty Ino all morning and actually get some work done. He decided to go to the pub because for one there was lots of alcohol there so he could sulk properly, and also because Raidou was probably sitting at the bar, chatting to the barman, trying to justify having a drink that early in the morning and all with a blank piece of paper and a pen lying on the bar's top in front of him.

The streets became busier the closer he got to the various Ninja headquarters. His chosen pub was situated quite close to them and as he crossed the road to enter it he caught sight of Inoichi Yamanaka walking across the road to meet a woman. He studied the woman: she looked civilian, about 5'8, slim, with long elegant limbs and soft facial features, her hair was blonde but slightly lighter than Inoichi's, like a platinum blonde – an Ino blonde. Sure enough as Inoichi approached the woman she smiled and held out her hand and the two proceeded to walk hand in hand down the street, away from him. _So, she is beautiful_, he thought idly, _but she's sort of willowy, she looks like she'd snap if you treated her rough, not like Ino, Ino is...no, I'm not complimenting her!_ he decided adamantly and opened the pub's door, trying to clear his mind on any Yamanaka's.

Sure enough Raidou was sitting at the bar, conversing with the barman, Sho, who appeared to be changing beer barrels; in fact the reason the pub was open was probably solely for Raidou's custom, who else drank this early in the morning?

"Yo," Genma muttered, sounding a lot more despondent than he'd meant to and thumping down heavily into the seat beside Raidou.

"Trouble in paradise?" Raidou asked slyly, casting a sideways glance to his downcast friend.

Genma narrowed his eyes, giving Raidou a withering look and only answered, "Vodka?" gesturing to the glass of clear liquid he was cradling, just reminding the scarred man that his own life was hardly a picnic.

"Water," he declared smoothly with a smirk, "see?" He waved the glass under Genma's nose and sure enough there was no alcohol tang to the drink. "Besides I'm still hung over _and_ I have no money."

"No money," Genma said incredulously as he took a few sheets of paper from Raidou's stack and stole the pen that was lying atop it, "I gave you loads last night."

"I know, we went out after the party and I spent it all...actually speaking of money you still have to bribe me into being quiet so I think you _should_ buy me a vodka, you never know what could slip out whilst Inoichi's around." Genma's only reply was to drive his foot into his friends shin. "Ah! Genma! That fucking hurt!"

Genma ignored him, writing his name and copying the mission reference number from the open mission file that rested at an unstable angle on Raidou's lap. A very light pout was resting over his lips and Raidou, for all his faults, was still an ANBU shinobi - he noticed straight away, narrowing his eyes at his friend's obvious bad mood.

"So...what's poor little Ino done to put you in such a mood?" Genma just stayed quiet, scribbling something about Ibiki finding it necessary to reorganise the structure of the groups on the paper, his mouth forming a grim line. "Did she declare her undying love for you?" _Nowhere near_, "...or...did she develop a disagreeable sex kink?" Genma exhaled a short sound of amusement, "No?" Raidou asked, studying his friends face for any reaction, "did she kick you out?" Genma stiffened.

"No, Raidou, can't you tell I'm not talking about it?"

"Yes, I can, that's what intrigues me. Usually you're like 'bitch got too clingy' then it's onto the next one, but you're sulking."

"I'm not sulking," Genma muttered angrily, "I don't sulk." But he did, he knew he did, he could be as petulant as a child sometimes.

"So what was her problem? You couldn't get her off?"

"Don't be stupid," Genma said, proudly protecting his reputation in bed, "it wasn't that."

"So there _is_ something the matter."

"Can't you just shut up and get on with your report?" Genma snapped.

"No, you've got my pen."

"Get another one."

"You get another one."

"Then can't you do something else, get drunk or something."

"You gonna give me the money?"

"No." Raidou shrugged.

"I'm quite happy interrogating you actually." Genma sighed, straightening up and almost throwing the pen at Raidou.

"Hey Sho," the barman popped his head around the door from the back room, "you got a pen I could borrow." The barman disappeared for a moment, and the sounds of rummaging were heard before he emerged with a pencil.

"This do?" asked the burly barman. Genma nodded, smiling appreciatively and receiving the pencil.

"Thanks." He resumed writing, now detailing the activities of the three groups and how he and Ibiki had found an appropriate place to camp. "Is Anko in town?" Genma asked suddenly which immediately drew a loud laugh from his scarred friend.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked, eyeing Genma, cruelly enjoying seeing Genma as the one with girl trouble for once. "You know, I already know about Ino...so...you may as well tell me what's happening with her. I didn't expect to see you so down on the morning after you shagged her."

"Don't be so crass," Genma admonished, quietly but his heart really wasn't in it. "Alright, I'll tell you. So, we're in bed this morning..."

XXXXXX

"So, why are you in my kitchen making me tea at quarter to seven in the morning?" Ino asked as she took a chair at her small kitchen table and watched Shikamaru light up, wondering how many times she'd have to tell him 'not in the house' before he finally understood. Ino reckoned that Kiba had had less trouble house training Akamaru than she had trying to house train Shika.

"I needed to talk to you," he repeated.

"I know," she said, turning fully to observe her friend, "you said that before."

"It's about last night..." _last night...what happened last night?_

"Erm – yeah – I'm still a little hazy on the details, what exactly happened last night?" She remembered Shika, she remembered embarrassment, she remembered crying then the rest of the night was taken over by images of Genma in various stages of ecstasy, she shook her head to clear them, wondering on what terms she was with Genma now they'd had that little tiff.

"You don't remember?" Shikamaru thought for a second, taking a deep drag on his cigarette, "maybe it would be best if I didn't tell you then," he mused, more to himself than for Ino's benefit, but then he shook his head. "You walked in on me and Temari, you were with Jirou."

"Jirou...oh yeah, oh yeah the red drink! I remember! Then we went to the offices and – oh – yeah, we should talk about that." Discomfort was thick in the air around them, but Ino, since remembering what she'd walked in on and how the Sand kunoichi had had her legs locked around _her_ Shikamru's waist, just enjoyed the silence, watching her team mate squirm.

"So – er – we...erm I mean me and Temari are..." there was something decidedly bitter tasting mixed in with the sweetness of watching Shikamaru struggle with what he was trying to say, on the one hand it was good to see the lazy Nara lost for words for a change and drop that uber-cool exterior, but on the other hand, it just reminded Ino that he'd never been lost for words over her, and never would be. "Well we didn't really want anyone to know...you see we're...we're kind of, you know..."

"Sleeping together?" Ino guessed.

"Well yes but..."

"Dating?"

"Yeah, like...kind of...going steady, we have been for a while now," he ended quietly.

"Oh," what was there to say? She'd known they were seeing each other and could probably guess that they were sleeping together. The fact that they were in a _proper_ relationship was something she'd both known and not known, because she didn't want it to be true but also because she knew it was true.

"No one really knows," Shika said tiredly, running a hand through his hair, "she hasn't told her brothers yet, doesn't know how they'll react."

"Hm." Silence again.

"I just want you to know because...it's not like I just decided to invite her and sleep with her, I wanted you to know that." _Great_, Ino thought,_ but I'd have preferred it if you just wanted to fuck her._

"It's okay," Ino said, managing to raise a very false, very feeble smile, "but...why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell either of us?" _why did you let me fawn all over you whilst you were sending love letters to Suna? _Ino couldn't help but feel hurt that he hadn't confided in his two best friends, unless they weren't best friends anymore; unless Temari 'going steady' with Shikamaru meant that now he'd be solely centred on her and have no time for them. A cold chill of jealousy slunk down Ino's spine even though she knew the business of 'best friends' was childish. Shikmaru sighed.

"I wanted to, I really wanted to tell you both, you and Choji, but I didn't want to think you couldn't be happy for me...I didn't want you to be upset or anything." Ino's eyebrows rose; yeah she coveted him but she didn't want him to be presumptuous about it! "You know how things have been between us - we're completely out of sink, I was in love with you before and now you've just begun to-"

"In love with me?!" Ino couldn't help her voice from raising an octave, her eyes staring foolishly at the dark haired shinobi.

"Y...yeah," he answered sheepishly, "I...I thought you knew?"

"No! God, I had no idea!" Shikamaru was actually blushing! With his cool exterior crumbling around him, his cheeks turning pink, his eyes turning shy and his cigarette finished, he opened his mouth, seeking words and finding none. "When?"

"A few years ago," he mumbled, then in response to Ino's furrowed brow and incredulous stare, "last year...a couple of months ago."

"W...why did you say anything?" Shikamaru shrugged.

"You had a boyfriend, Sasuke was flaunting himself around the village, it was too troublesome to compete with them."

"Oh, how romantic," Ino deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Shikamaru just shrugged again.

"So...I just wanted to make sure you were okay with everything, because if you're not then...well...then...I don't want you to feel I'm showing her off around Konoha or in front of you or anything, and if you're uncomfortable I'll go to Suna and visit her there-"

"Look, it's fine; I've got problems but they're mine and I want you to be happy," she moved forward and ruffled his hair. He was going to move out the way but in the end he must have decided it was just too troublesome and so just took the scrumple of affection. "You should tell Choji though, he'll be mad if he thinks he's the last to know."

"Yeah, I know," Shikamaru smiled, his eyes wondering to her bedroom door and his mind lingering on the question he was dying to ask. "Ino...?"

"What?" she asked, preoccupied with blowing on her tea and taking cautious sips of the hot drink.

"Did you sleep with Genma last night?" Ino became very still, the hot tea in her mouth scalding her tongue and activating her gag reaction. She tried to choke surreptitiously but ended up spluttering and coughing, trying to regain at least some dignity by swallowing the tea before it sprayed over the table. Shika patted her roughly on the back. "That's a yes then?"

"How did you..." _no don't say that, deny it before he thinks you're a slut! _"Er –" she tried to come up with a lie, she really did, but from the look on his face she knew he wouldn't believe her anyway. "Yes," she sighed, visibly deflating as she did so.

"_And _the other morning? When we came around you and he had been-"

"Yes," Ino said quickly before he could say anymore.

"And he stayed all night?"

"Yes," Ino furrowed her brows, "why?" He shrugged nonchalantly.

"No reason - just he's not known for...just no reason. I didn't expect it of you."

"I know! I didn't want you to find out!" she cried, curling her hands around her warm mug in a vain attempt to reassure herself.

"Why? As long as you're using protection," he grinned, Ino just grimaced and scowled at him, "which I could see you were..." Ino's grimace deepened.

"Stop being rude!" Ino scolded, "And _please_ don't tell Choji!"

"I won't, I won't!" he said, his hands up in surrender, "He'd kill me if I told him, then he'd be after Genma, I'd watch it around him if I were you." Ino smiled, touched by her team mate's concern. "Anyway I better go, I left Temari asleep," _ouch_, Ino suppressed the tensing in her shoulders, "if she wakes up and I'm gone she'll be mad." Ino smiled that fake smile that she'd learnt off Sai and stood up to show him to the door.

"See you, then," Ino said as Shikamaru stepped over the doorstep.

"Ino?" Shika said, his tone so worried and enquiring that Ino's eyes snapped up to his.

"What?"

"It is just sex...isn't it - with you and Genma?"

"Yeah, course it is? When's it ever not sex with him?" Ino laughed, but Shika didn't, if anything the severity of his gaze deepened.

"Are you sure?"

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked, worried by his intensity.

"Just...be careful with him yeah? He was here this morning wasn't he? When I came?" Ino nodded, "He doesn't do that, you know? He's not normally like that."

"So?"

"So...just be careful, yeah?"

"Okay," Ino answered quietly.

"See you around," were Shikamaru's departing words, leaving a very confused Ino standing alone on her doorstep.

Shikamaru walked down the road from Ino's apartment building, dragging his heals and deep in thought, so deep in thought actually that he hadn't even realised that this walk back to his place might be the perfect opportunity to smoke because Temari hated it when he smoked around her. His mind was still on Ino, mulling over the things she'd said, thinking about her most worrying new craze: Shiranui Genma. He experienced a strange tightening in his chest every time he thought about Ino being with Genma; Genma seeing her naked, Genma touching her, Genma coming round a few nights later, Genma _staying _until the_ morning_! Genma didn't do that with girls and although Shika was fine with Ino seeking pleasure with him he was worried, firstly that he was just stringing Ino along, and secondly, and much more dangerous in his opinion, that a proper relationship might form.

Genma was a friend and a good shinobi but where girls were concerned Shika wouldn't trust him as far as he could throw him, especially not with Ino, arguably the most precious girl in his life. If the two ever formed a proper relationship he would _not_ be happy. Genma was almost forty and Shikamaru could just see him having a mid-life crisis and snapping up pretty, blonde haired, blue eyed Ino to instate into his house and have small, lecherous children with. He wondered on the irony for a moment that Choji hated the idea of Ino having casual sex with people, and would probably gag if he knew it was Genma, but he hated the idea of them having a relationship; in his eyes Ino deserved better.

Shikamaru didn't know if it was just some mildly incestuous form of jealousy or simply a close friend's protectiveness but he knew he disapproved of Genma, hands down. To be fair to the senbon chewing shinobi there was only a _very_ slim chance that he was having a mid-life crisis, and being a philanderer all his life and still going strong even at 39 it was not probable that he did want to marry and impregnate Shikamaru's team mate, but if that was the case then why the hell was he staying until the morning? Why the hell was he a recurring guest at Ino's house? Why the hell was Ino trying to hide a casual fling from her two best friends and team mates? He didn't know, but he didn't like it either.

XXXXXX

"So you got all sentimental then she flipped out?"

"I did not get sentimental; I asked her if she was feeling okay; girls love it when you talk about them!"

"Not Ino, obviously," Raidou said as he took a mouthful of a vodka and orange juice he'd acquired by some means on the grounds that orange juice was a breakfast drink.

"Hm, obviously," Genma muttered, doodling dejectedly on a spare piece of paper. So far since he'd begun telling the story he'd drawn an orange (since Raidou had ordered his drink) and then another one next to it which quickly morphed into two certain aspects of the female physique which he was quite partial to, then he'd drawn the full outline of a woman, then added a nurse's outfit and was now drawing a big, shaggy dog which Raidou had remarked looked more like a cow.

"Well, I think you should apologise to her."

"Apologise for what?" Genma asked glumly.

"I don't know, but it's what you always tell me to do and it works so...try it." Genma sighed.

"It's just a casual thing, you know? But I just thought that we were sort of...like friends as well, you know friends with benefits, not just...not just someone to shag now and then. She's a shinobi, I'm a shinobi; she's getting older – our groups are beginning to merge into just one mass of Jounin so...I don't see a problem, she bloody does."

"You want to be fuck buddies? I don't know where you've got that idea from. Have you known a woman yet who's wanted to be a fuck buddy? Hell if I have! Even Anko won't, she's far too aloof for it."

"Stop being vulgar, Raidou," he scolded, once again sounding more tired than strict.

"You need to sort yourself out," Raidou, said, straightening up in his chair, "I'm going to see if we've got any more missions lined up, Shizune said something about a little jaunt to Wave country."

"Oh great," Genma muttered.

"You're so moody, remember to go and get those medi-pack things from the hospital, our team have run out," Raidou slid off the stool, "lighten up, man, anyone would think you're pining."

"I'm not pining!" Genma pouted, "I just don't appreciate bloody women stopping sex to argue with me then kicking me out the house."

"I don't even know what you were doing in her house in the morning anyway."

"Why?"

"Well it's pretty personal," Raidou said as he gathered up his papers, readying to leave. Genma heaved a sigh.

"Not for her," he said remembering what Ino had said, "nor for me." Raidou shrugged.

"I'll be hanging around ANBU HQ so find me there after you get the kits."

_Hmm, Ino works at the hospital..._Genma mused, remembering how she'd said she was working that afternoon, _I'll go this afternoon and apologise I guess_, Genma thought as he followed suit and slipped off his stool, stuffing his report into his back pocket and heading for home.

* * *

I hope that made sense?! I wasn't sure about it and I'm awful surprised it's out earlier than I thought.

Sorry for mistakes!

Special credit and much thanks to Brighit Raven for her brilliant idea - I took it! It was a good way to expand on Shikamaru's character so thanks very much :)

Review if you dare :O! x.


	7. Transition

Eessh I hope this one's okay. First I went to the Lake District to do a 5 day hike then my computer got a Trojan horse virus! Which was very annoying! So it might flow badly and have mistakes :O sorry xx.

**Warning:** **language and sexual sitautions (only mild though)**

Enjoy!

* * *

From the bar Genma had come home, showered, then gone right back out to ANBU HQ to hand in his mission report.

"Hello Akina," Genma greeted, leaning coolly against the ANBU admin's front desk and smirking at the woman, taking immense pride in the fact that he knew exactly what she looked like naked.

"Hello stranger," she said, smiling, "Yumi's in today, so I'd make this quick if I were you." Genma feigned hurt at her comment.

"Akina-chan, you'd send me away so soon?" he said with a pout.

"You know I would," she told him, grinning malevolently at him and possibly referring to how she'd kicked him out of her bed when he was still basking in the post orgasm glow. Genma shrugged.

"Present, just for you," he handed over his report.

"And everything's in it this time?" she asked, flicking through the file he'd presented.

"Yup, everything."

"Good boy – oh Raidou passed by and told me to tell you to get supplies for Team 202 as well; they want two of those white bags, one full of bandages and the other full of those chakra band things."

"Will do," he said, lifting a hand in farewell and offering a wink before heading off to the store cupboards where he could find the white bags he was supposed to fill.

The bags were simple to find – in a cupboard just down the corridor from the administrative centre. The closet's light was broken and wouldn't turn on, but he managed to selected three bags and was just filling out the necessary paper work to explain where three of the ANBU stock had gone by the illumination of the electric lights and high windows in the corridor beyond the open door, when an interruption shrouded his page in darkness and stopped the pen moving across the page.

"Hello Shiranui." The smooth voice drifted in from the door and floated over to the kneeling shinobi.

"Good morning," he replied politely, taking in the way she was blocking the light from the corridor, her feminine silhouette outlined on the floor behind her. Genma knew this woman, her name was Rei; she worked at the headquarters even though she was not a ninja and she embodied all the physical traits that a kunoichi envied in a civilian; she had soft curves that began at her ample chest then tapered at her waist only to flare out into her hips, and a soft pair of thighs that met the pronounced curve of her rear. She wasn't all bone and muscle like most kunoichi had to be for stealth and fighting purposes, she didn't have the tightly sculpted stomach of Ino or her lean, strong thighs but Rei was still a _most _agreeable alternative.

"What are you doing rummaging around in the dark? Shouldn't you be out playing hero or something?" Her tone was low and unless he was _quite_ mistaken it was _sultry_; she was coming on to him. Genma let out a short laugh.

"Not now, maybe later though, it's hard work being a shinobi – we need time to relax; every ninja needs his beauty sleep, you know." The woman smiled.

"Well, I can't help you with beauty sleep," she purred, stepping from the doorway and further into the small dark cupboard, "but I could help you relax."

"Yeah?" he rose and eyebrow, intrigued. _Maybe this'll help to blow of some Ino steam_, he thought as he asked innocently, "How's that?" And the last thing he thought as he took in the woman's dark blonde hair before she closed the door was: _she's blonde enough. _The last thing he saw before she closed the door was the woman's painted red lips form a grin, then there was just darkness and after a while, the warm feeling of bare flesh against him and female hands fumbling to feel the same.

XXXXXX

For the second day in a row Ino went back to bed once she'd awoken; it was still too early to be thinking on things such as Shikamaru's cryptic departing words or arguments with Genma; it was just too difficult when she'd been up half the night kissing and touching the man she now vowed was the most infuriating person in the world.

However when she re-awoke things were no less confusing.

Ino knew she could just hop onto her shower and the process would take a fraction of the time but that morning what she wanted to do was go to the hot springs. Konoha's hot springs were always good for a laugh; being a gender segregated environment meant that it was a place of unbridled bitchiness, gossip and much talk about shoes, and that's exactly what Ino wanted.

Since the two main men in her life were both doing a good job of stamping on any ideals she'd ever had of the male sex - Shikamaru because he was doing a sterling job of breaking her heart and had run off with _Temari_, and Genma because he had literallyjumped out of the window in the middle of an unsolved argument and was making her feel things for him which were unnecessary and should be inconsequential, she decided that she had earned a session of relaxation wherein she could complain to her hearts content. Actually, she mused, it wasn't fair to say that about Genma because it wasn't his fault for her developing an attachment to him and plus, he hadn't just gone off in a strop, she'd told him to leave; putting the blame on herself did little to calm her anger, though. It made her feel angry that she actually needn't have bothered kicking Genma out because Shikamaru knew about it all already. _How the hell did he know?_ she wondered, but like so many other things about Shikamaru Ino concluded it was just something to be accepted, not questioned.

She felt a bit apprehensive about the Genma situation; she felt like she didn't even know him enough for them to have an argument; would he just ignore her now? It's not like he had any obligation to _not_ ignore her, after all they were hardly emotionally together in any sense of the word; they were neither friends nor were they lovers. Ino didn't know what they were; in fact she didn't like to think about it in the fear that putting a name to it might just make it worse. She knew she wouldn't like the name she provided.

Shikamaru on the other hand was just Shikamaru; for all his laziness he was obstinate and Ino knew he wouldn't change himself even if she complained. Ino was surprised he'd come around because usually his tactic was to ignore things and they'd go away, that had certainly been his attitude towards any of Ino's advances in the past. She almost didn't believe that he'd been in love with her; she'd actually never noticed it! She couldn't believe she'd be so wrapped up in the Uchiha's return to not realise (she certainly wasn't wrapped up in her then boyfriend). Also Shika wasn't one to skirt around subjects, he usually laid his cards on the table so everyone could see - it was easier that way and he was damn lazy. She made a mental note to ask Choji about it, presumably he'd known? It made her angry that he'd pussy footed around; it made her angry that she'd missed her chance for happiness.

For all these reasons Ino stuffed a towel and a hairbrush into a bag and headed out the door, seeking the warm, steamy sanctuary where she could bitch about Genma's conduct and Shika's love life with women who would sympathise.

First she decided to grab Sakura and bring her along but as she got bored of waiting outside her door and opened the letter box to shout through she noticed an extra pair of man's sandals and so left, feeling slightly neglected and downcast, but still, she wouldn't have answered the door if it was her in bed with a man, who in Sakura's case was probably Uchiha Sasuke. However in the end she didn't go on her own as when she'd passed the dango stall the purplish black hair that crowned the head of Mitarashi Anko emerged from behind the flaps.

"Oi, Yamanaka," she hailed through a mouthful of dango as she ran to catch up with the blonde.

"Oh, hi Anko."

"Where ya off to? Bathing pools? I was just heading there, I'll go with you, I found out some pretty _interesting_ things about your old teacher Iruka last night," she leered lecherously.

"Ew,"

"So I heard that sand chick is here? I saw her with her tongue lodged down his throat," she was talking about Shikamaru's throat of course, because Anko knew this was a cause of personal distress for Ino since it's what she'd been complaining about during her previous visits to the communal bathhouse. "That's gotta be a bad crack," Anko said and for Anko this was the height of sympathy. "I didn't see you at the jounin party last night, I was looking out because someone said you were gonna get together with Jirou and I've always wondered if what he says is true, you know? I doubt it though, I always think if they've gotta back it up with words then they're bound to be crap...not Genma though...I had him a couple of times and he's pretty good, knows how to put his tongue to good use. Speaking of which, Raidou says Genma's harassing a pretty, young chunin and he won't tell me who, you got any ideas? Actually I didn't see him at that party much either..." Anko cast a suspicious glance at Ino.

"What? You think me?" Ino asked, in a half laugh, trying to convey slight disgust and incredulity at the claim, _oh the irony_, she thought.

"Nah," Anko laughed, "I didn't think so, you're a safety girl; you know for all the rumours about you you're still pretty vanilla." Ino knew by now not to be offended by what Anko said. To put it in the nicest, cutest way Anko was a chatter-box, to put it in the harsh light of reality she was an over-sexed gossip bitch with the brawn to match her tough demeanour, though Ino reckoned that if it was suddenly revealed that Asuma-sensei was doing immoral and inhumane testing on fellow shinobi in an underground lab and was just pretty much an all round evil person with snake minions, Ino might be a bit screwed up too, and so she begrudged Anko nothing...almost nothing.

The next five minutes walk was filled with Anko's chatting, gossiping just about everyone from the Hokage Tsunade herself to the lowliest civilian in Konoha. Ino couldn't say that she didn't enjoy listening to Anko, she liked a good gossip, and working in the flower shop enabled her to pick up a few rumours and impart a few herself, but no one was as good as Anko.

Anko's talk about Genma's mysterious chunin companion made her smile, he must have told people but was tactful in not giving her name; her father would actually _kill_ him, unless Choji got to him first. However at the moment that was an incredibly tempting thought.

"I missed the boat with Naruto," Anko was saying as the walked into the changing rooms after paying Natsumi at the front desk, who was sitting looking bored out her mind and attempting to make an origami bird out of a memo, "he looks pretty serious with that Hyuuga girl and when I saw them I couldn't actually see any way to separate them, they were all entangled and slobbering, it was quite nasty actually."

XXXXXX

It actually proved to be a stroke of luck that Anko had gone with Ino as since she was such a loud mouth extrovert, whilst she was prancing nakedly around, greeting everyone there with a vociferous salutation it allowed Ino to slip into the water and hide her modesty quietly. She found a spot with people she knew, people who she often went to the bathing pools with and sunk low in the water, unable to feel the same unashamed self-confidence as Anko who still wasn't in the water and was still strutting around completely naked. In hindsight her eagerness to get into the water was why she didn't notice the presence on the blonde haired kunoichi with her hair arranged in two spiky bunches to keep it out the water.

"Oh – er – hello Ino." Ino took pleasure in the fact that she was clearly embarrassed, probably because by now the alcohol courage had worn off and she realised that _Ino_ had walked in on _them_ doing..._that_.

"Hi Temari," Ino greeted, smiling, despite how her stomach had begun to twist in tight, angry knots.

The rest of the group were okay, though, a few civilians she often saw in the flower shop, Hinata, Kurenai, Moegi – now eighteen - and Hinata's sister Hanabi – now fifteen. She gave a general smile of greeting then leant back against the side of the pool, listening as the others resumed their conversation, pretending to close her eyes in total relaxation but keeping them a fraction open so she could examine the blonde across from her and look upon everything she was not...apparently.

When Anko finally returned to the group she wasn't alone, instead when she slid into the water she was accompanied by a woman with dark blonde hair and a figure that Choji had once commented was the 'proper' woman's figure, as all three of her male team mates drooled after said figure's retreating footsteps. Ino had made him pay for that comment.

"What are you so glum about?" Kurenai asked the new addition to the group that wasn't purple haired.

"I'm not 'glum' I'm angry!" she snapped.

"Why?"

"Genma just screwed me over!" A chorus of 'oh no!' and 'how terrible!' went around the group, but not from Ino who was instead surveying the new addition, Rei, cynically since she'd imparted this revelation unto them. For one, Genma had spent the night at her house and for two, she was having a rush of insane jealousy, which was made even more insane by the fact that she was jealous that this woman had been _screwed over_, if she even had.

"What happened?" Moegi asked sympathetically.

"Well..." Rei told some pathetic story of how Genma had accosted her in the hallway of the ANBU HQ and sweet talked her into joining him in a nearby store cupboard, of course she hadn't been to blame at all, no she was a positively virginal angel all the way through. Every word she spoke made a fierce need to protect Genma's honour rise inside Ino; Genma was not like that, Genma _couldn't _be like that. Genma was her...well she didn't know what he was, but he was her something and she belatedly realised that she'd felt like this once before, and it was when a drunk man in a bar had called Sakura a slut because she'd couldn't go home with him, which was ironic in itself. Something inside her had apparently drawn parallels and was promoting feelings of fierce protection towards the accused party, which meant that those misplaced feelings towards Genma were back, despite their argument.

"But the sex was good, right?" Anko asked, smirking a lewd smirk that was almost Genma-esque.

"Anko!" Kurenai hissed.

"Yeah but it was good," Ino interjected, "wasn't it?" she managed to make the question sound surprisingly innocent for the amount of irritation she was feeling. Forgotten were any hard feelings towards the man himself, instead it was all centred on this woman whom Ino could only surmise was lying.

"Well yes but, he was so abrupt after, he just got dressed, said 'thanks' and walked off."

"Yeah, but you _know_ Genma, everybody knows his reputation, what made you think this time it would be any different for him?"

"I don't know I just thought maybe-"

"Maybe what? Maybe he'd magically change? Bullshit, Rei you knew he would just use you; you just wanted sex, why didn't you just tell the truth."

"Ino what's-"

"He screwed me over!" Rei stated firmly, cutting across Kurenai's attempt to keep the peace.

"If he did then you did the same to him. Stop playing the victim!"

"I am the fucking victim!"

"No, you're not! You're just trying to create drama, you didn't have to tell us you shagged him but you did and you're making a big story out of it."

"Ino that's-" but again Kurenai was cut off.

"What the fuck's wrong with you?" Rei yelled, "This is Shiranui we're talking about!"

"I know who we're talking about!" Ino hissed, because they were beginning to draw attention and Hinata was turning bright red because of it. Thankfully for Hinata at that moment a call of 'Rei' was sounded from the other side of the pool and the women herself got up without another word and with her head held high in the air walked in the direction of the shout.

Everyone stayed very quiet for a second, looking around uncomfortably or suddenly becoming very interested in the skin of their hands or the way the water moved around them. Of course, it was Anko that broke the silence.

"Wow, Ino," Anko said, a hint of reverence to her voice, "sticking up for Shiranui? Where'd that come from?" Ino shrugged trying to act nonchalant after her outburst.

"I just didn't see why she had to lie." Kurenai's eyebrows rose.

"You don't know she was lying." Ino scoffed.

"Of course she was, Genma didn't force himself on her, he's not like that - you know that – he's a charmer not a rapist! And besides she didn't _have_ to have sex with him, did she? I mean would _you_ ever find yourself in a cupboard having sex with Genma? Even if he tried every trick in his arsenal?" Ino made a fair point and Kurenai could only shake her head.

"No I wouldn't."

"I would," Anko said, grinning that malevolent smirk again.

"But then you wouldn't act as if you were a victim," came Hinata's timid voice, "I do sympathise with him sometimes, I...I think sometimes he gets too much bad press. I wouldn't s...sleep with him," a red blush rosied her cheeks, "and it's not like he hasn't tried," she added quietly.

"Same here," Moegi sighed. Everyone sat silent in quiet contemplation and Ino could almost hear the cogs turning in their minds, mulling over what she'd said, wondering why she had said it...

"So...Hinata and Naruto?" Ino provided, trying to stop people's thought processes from piecing together the 'Genma's got a new chunin lady friend' rumour with the 'Ino just defended Genma' evidence. Thankfully Anko immediately pounced on the subject and began asking the most obscenely personal questions whilst Hinata turned a deeper shade of red and Kurenai struggled to get Anko to back off. Ino on the other hand just sat back against her rock again and thought on what she'd just done. Perhaps it was nothing to do with her creating feelings for him? Perhaps she was just repaying him for all the times he'd been nice to her? For the times he'd said she was beautiful and Shika was stupid and Temari wasn't as good as her and for walking her home? Maybe...and maybe not – and that thought lurked around Ino's head like a headache.

XXXXXX

Genma had eventually stopped procrastinating at about two o' clock that afternoon and dragged his feet to Konoha's hospital. After his excursion with Rei he'd kicked around the on-call room drinking very strong coffee and managed to have a conversation with Tenzou about the pros and cons of chakra based attacks as opposed to weapon based attacks on stealth missions; it had left him feeling rather intelligent, and had he not followed it up by a pretty detailed description of his encounter with Rei then he would have left the head quarters with that feeling, but as it was he actually left feeling hollow guilt.

He realised he hadn't a clue where exactly Ino worked and as he wondered the long corridors of the hospital he also realised he had completely forgotten how big the hospital was.

He did see a few people he knew, some greeting him with cheery 'hello's and others with icy glares; he shrugged these off, he was used to them.

Eventually a sign with the insignia 'supplies' pointed him towards his destination and once again he found himself crawling around on the floor trying to find supplies for his three bags and once again he found himself pausing in his actions, once again distracted by the sound of a woman.

The sound was light and at any other time would have gone completely unnoticed would it not have been for the fact that Genma knew whose laugh it was. At first he promised himself he was only creeping out the closet and peering through the glass windowed door into the treatment room to find out who the women was, (even though he knew the answer already, most certainly) – it was just healthy male curiosity, but as it was confirmed for him that it was indeed Ino in the room treating a patient he found lying to himself was futile. He felt like a stalker or a peeping tom. He probably was. And he _certainly_ did not like the way she was moving her hands over the patient's shinobi trained stomach. _It's just because she's my friend, I'm feeling protective is all...in a friendly way. _But either way, whether it was because he was jealous or just _protective _it made him feel very, very negative things to see that she was flirting with another man so quickly after he'd slept with her, not even Anko did that. Shouldn't she be feeling happy and satisfied now? Shouldn't she still be walking around in a happy daze and be brushing off all other men? Shouldn't she not be touching his shoulder as she giggled at what he was saying? That wasn't professional! That wasn't right!

He understood the irony that he had no right to be thinking this after having a impromptu fumble in an ANBU store closet with one of the staff members; it was both unprofessional and an insult to Ino, but at the time he had got around that issue by not sleeping with Rei – they both just had a little grope, that was all...and a little kiss...and a little oral...but _that_ was _all_, everything, no sex.

Even so he didn't feel like apologising now; _she_ had got snarky with him, _she_ had kicked him out and now _she_ was ogling other men. It was her fault, she should apologise. He trudged back to his cupboard feeling disheartened.

Team 202 were a mostly medical based team and had engineered the formation of the 'chakra band things' – these detected people's chakra and made the band glow a specific colour for each person's specific chakra so you knew if help was on the way, they could also be used to summon people through their chakra, it was all very technical and Genma's own team hardly ever used them because of it. He experimentally pushed some of his own chakra into a band, curious as to what colour it would display – it flared a turquoise-y blue colour which was satisfactory enough he guessed with a grunt as he threw the band on top of the others in the bag, pulling the zip with a harsh ferocity.

He had just located the 'bandages' draw and was beginning to stuff the tightly rolled material into the second white bag when the door opened a crack. He spared the door a glance believing that it was probably some pokey old matron or a bored desk clerk as by the laws of averages there was _no way_ one man was so lucky as to be accosted by two beautiful women in store rooms on the same day. _Maybe there is?_ Genma wondered as the vision of blue and blonde and an unmistakable scent invaded him. He quickly turned back, now shoving small bottles into his team's bag, his expression back to a scowl and his mood back to bad-tempered.

"Hey," Ino said quietly, unsure whether he'd just not heard the door open _and _he'd just not noticed her when he glanced up, or he was trying to make some sort of statement with his silence. She wished it was the first but strongly suspected the latter.

"Hn," came his mumbled reply as he went back to sieving through the medicine drawer and open cupboard, reading labels and placing what was known at the hospital as 'mission size' bottles and bandages into a white bag that read ANBU on the side in dark, bold lettering.

"Are you going on a mission?" Ino asked, tentatively, noticing he was not in the mood for talking to her yet. _He's _still _angry?!_

Genma shrugged, "don't know," he answered shortly.

"Genma please don't be like that."

"Be like what?" he was still not looking at her, seemingly too preoccupied with removing items from the cupboard and shoving them into his bag. Ino sighed.

"Genma look at me."

"I'm busy."

"Yeah, so am I but I'm still being polite to you."

"You don't have to be polite." Ino sighed again, this was more difficult that she'd anticipated.

"I don't understand why you're so angry! Please talk to me." He didn't. "Shouldn't _I_ be the one who's angry? You were the one who started this!"

"I was asking how you were, _Ino_," Genma said, emphasizing her name by slamming down the white bag and standing, turning to face her, a glass bottle with the label 'ethanol' still clenched in his fist, "I was being _polite_!" he sneered, shoving her own words back in her face.

"I didn't want to talk about Shika! What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it is that _I_ did! I was just checking you were okay about it!"

"Why? You _don't_ care! It's just sex!"

"Stop saying that! No it isn't!"

"What do you-"

"I don't want to marry you, Ino, and I'm not going to fall in love with you or start writing poems or any of that crap, but it isn't just sex. I was being nice to you all this time, I helped you pick out those clothes and I took you home when you were upset and it's not like we just shagged then left was it? Is it just me or does that not sound like just sex?" Ino tutted. For a moment Ino thought to tell him that he wasn't the only one who did nice things for the other and how she'd defended him against Rei, but then she remembered her argument was meant to be that it was _just sex_, and as she thought about this she knew what he said was true, he wasn't just someone she had sex with, she actually _liked_ him, as a person, as a friend.

"Fair enough, but you did those things in the hopes of having sex, you can't say you weren't expecting sex when you brought me home." Ino argued vehemently, because she was too proud to back down now. Genma put his hands up like he was surrendering but the look on his face told that he was doing anything but surrendering.

"I didn't force myself on you, at any moment you could have told me to go and I would have. I thought it might make you feel better, was all. I'm beginning to think that you aren't grateful for any of it? Maybe it _is_ just all about sex with you." Ino could not believe that _this_ man of all people was making her feel like she had used him for her own pleasure. Also, the seriousness in his gaze conveyed that he could see no irony in him telling Ino that it was all about sex with her. She'd thought exactly the same of him!

Ino had to stop herself from laughing, it really would not help. "Hang on, you, _Shiranui Genma_, are telling _me_, that I'm making you feel used?"

"No, I'm telling you that I don't get why you're making _everything_ about sex."

"Because everything with _you_ is about sex!" Ino cried, exasperation breaking through her firm promise not to get angry with him again; it would solve nothing. Genma was vividly brought back to the arguments his mother used to have with his step father and it made anger boil through him; he took a deep breath. He _hated_ arguing with women; he _never _argued with women, instead he ran away from confrontation with the fairer sex. He was a man who strongly believed that a good old fashioned fight was the way to solve problems, and for coming up forty years it had worked for him; he willed his legs to carry him out the door, but they wouldn't; he had to resolve this and he couldn't fight her so...

"No it's not," he said, trying to level his voice, but it wasn't level, it was just dangerous.

"I've known you for four days and you've already slept with me twice!"

"You wanted me to!" he exclaimed. Ino had no direct answer for it, she had wanted him to.

"Yes, I did but you didn't have to go running to someone else so quickly, I didn't know I was _that_ bad!"

"What?"

"Rei? This morning? Or have you already forgotten that?" She couldn't believe that after all the commotion she'd caused in defending him that morning she was now accusing him with it, she was being very unfair, but she couldn't stop.

"What's there to forget about? We fucked, so what?" But the conviction was lost because he'd got even angrier in saying it, it wasn't even true. "Besides you can't talk, I saw you in there flirting with Inuzuka."

"Inu...what? Kiba's dad? Flirting?! I was treating a patient, I'm not the one with the problem here - why can't you just meet someone and not shag them?"

"She came onto me!"

"Whatever, Genma."

"She did!"

"But you didn't have to comply!"

"Why would I not have? I'm a man, I'm an opportunist."

"Yes, you fucking are! And you don't care about anyone else do you? If you'd just stop thinking with your penis for two seconds you'd-"

"Shut up!" He'd apparently finally cracked; as he threw his arms up in fury, the glass bottle was propelled from his fingers against the white, sterile walls, smashing with the pealing clash of shattering glass. Ino tensed, her eyes widening in shock, she'd never heard Genma shout before, she'd never seen him be violent before, he didn't seem capable of it, despite being a shinobi; he was always cool and collected, but from his expression it appeared he'd shocked himself by it too. "Sorry," he murmured quietly, his voice shaking. He removed his gaze from her to the floor at his feet, running a stressed hand through his hair. "I'm really sorry," he mumbled. Genma sighed, once again returning his eyes to Ino, "come here," he murmured, holding his hand out.

Ino was hesitant to go to him, staring at the ethanol dripping down the wall, then the shard of glass that had ricocheted off the wall and skidded past her sandal, narrowly missing her feet. _What the fuck?!_

She felt a hand on her arm and looking up saw Genma must have stepped closer to her because he could now reach out and pull her to him, which he did, encasing her in his arms and resting his chin on her head.

"Fuck Genma," she whispered, readjusting the position of her arms that were curled into her chest, she didn't feel like hugging him at that moment, "what the hell was that?" His only reply was to sigh again followed by another 'I'm sorry'.

"I want to be your friend, Ino," he said quietly. She just grunted in reply, the sort of ironic sound that would tell him that maybe she didn't want to be friends with people who threw glass bottles across the room when angry. "I'm really sorry, for everything."

"Really?" Ino asked, her voice muffled by being pressed into him but it wasn't in response to him apologising but more a response to him saying he wanted to be her friend, it sounded like such a vulnerable thing to say. "Genma I'm not ashamed of you," she said, "I just don't know how to react to people finding out that I'm sleeping around, you know? It's difficult."

"And I'd probably be killed by Inoichi if he found out." Ino could hear the lightness in his tone and was glad that he was coming back to normal.

"Exactly." Ino shifted against him, thinking, strangely, how much he smelt like her pillow did now. "I'm sorry," she said in the smallest voice, "you don't...you don't ...what I said, I was angry."

"Yeah...but I do a bit," he sighed.

"I shouldn't have said it." Ino mumbled through the silence

"I didn't shag her," Genma said very quietly. Ino huffed a laugh and although it went against herself to say it replied:

"It's not my place to judge." It was both gratifying and disappointing to feel his arms tighten around her, as if he wanted to be closer to her but as if he were glad she didn't care.

"Friends?" he asked, brushing blonde hair away from her forehead and smiling slightly as he looked down at her face.

"Yeah, okay," was her reply, offering a tight lipped smile that she tried to make natural before collecting her courage and hushing the voice telling her not to say what she was about to and adding "but if you're ever stuck for choices..." Genma pulled back to look at her, wondering if he'd understood her correctly; she wanted to be like his beck and call girl? He almost refused, he didn't want that for Ino, for his friend, but he was helpless to oppose her request, he didn't know how to answer other than any of his usual responses – cheeky, suggestive or sarcastic.

Genma hummed in a contemplative gesture. "Well if I've _got _to – _ouch!_"

XXXXXX

Her mind had been occupied by work after she'd left Genma but as she walked home, dragging her feet along the dirt roads and kicking up dust clouds, her mind wondered back to him, to what he'd said and done and then what she'd offered him. It was completely spur of the moment and now she realised it was a vain attempt to keep close to him to him, so he wouldn't just fade back into the melee of shinobi life that surrounded them both. What's more was that his behaviour had bothered her; it hadn't been quite apparent whether he'd thrown the bottle in a sort of tantrum fit or whether it had slipped out his fingers. Either way it was odd - why would he get so worked up about something she'd said? About something so stupid as well?

She didn't know who to turn to to make herself feel better; all her friends seemed to be in deep meaningful relationships nowadays and none would know or care to know anything about the village's womaniser. She could think of only one of her acquaintances who refused long term partners and luckily enough Ino suspected she knew where this particular person would be at this time.

Sure enough Ino had found Anko sharpening weapons and polishing kunai at her favourite spot on the roof of a large building that over looked the Forest of Death. By it's name it seemed a strange place for any sane person to find harmony in but as Ino looked out at the sun sinking low behind the close, dark trees creating tiny beams of light through the narrows gaps in between tree and tree, and a colour gradient, from a faint orange blush to blood red glow spreading across what little of the forest floor was visible she could understand Anko favouring the spot.

"Hey Ino," she'd said in one long sigh as Ino approached, she sounded tired. "What's up?" as she turned Ino was shocked to see the red rims around the eyes and the wetness of her lashes.

"Are you okay?" she asked automatically, before even assessing whether she'd take kindly to her asking after her or would she be offended that someone thought she could be vulnerable enough to cry every now and then - Anko was like that sometimes.

"What me? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm always fine." She smiled tightly and turned back to survey the forest, "I just like to be alone sometimes is all. Don't you ever get like that?" Ino could hear the stringency in her tone; she didn't want Ino to see her cry but she didn't want to make a big deal of it; it didn't stop her wondering why she was crying though.

They sat in silence before she broached her intended subject. She did realise that she was showing just a bit too much interest in Genma around Anko, chief gossip, but at the moment she looked pretty harmless.

"Anko...you know about Genma, right?"

"A bit," she shrugged.

"Is he...does he have like...issues? Or something?"

"What, you mean because of all the sex?" _See, I'm not the only one who thinks he's all about sex! _"No, not really, some are just made that way."

"I guess...but I mean is he okay? Like psychologically?" Anko laughed.

"What shinobi _is_ alright psychologically?" Point taken. "No, seriously, he's okay, I think he had family problems when he was younger, he's from a broken home but most of us that age are, you know, what with the war and everything."

"Hmm..."

"Why? Did he say something to you?"

"No," Ino lied since Anko was the last person she wanted to know about her relationship with Genma, but then she thought better of it, if she was going to lie it was going to be convincing, "well actually kind of, he was at the hospital today and he just snapped at me all of a sudden and it just surprised me was all."

"What did you say to make him snap at you?"

"I said...well you see he was being vulgar," Anko smirked, "so I said that everything with him was about sex and he just sort of...snapped." Anko made a contemplative face.

"I have no clue," she said, running her kunai along the katana with that sharp, extended 'tsk' sound. "I'm thirsty, I want tea, you want tea?"

"No, I'm okay, I've got to visit Choji before I turn in." Anko shrugged.

"Suit yourself, Yamanaka, see you around," she said as Ino got up and brushed the dirt off her behind.

"Bye."

This day was the strangest day, Ino thought as she headed for her apartment, it had told her that ever cool Genma could be an absolute aggressor and bad ass Anko could be an absolute kitten.

* * *

Review :) please. It was a bitch getting it out but I think it's okay :D xx.


	8. Nightmare

Thank you soooooooooooooooo much to those who have reviewed! And those who didn't as well! But reviews are fun :)

**Warning: sexual content, bad language and violence!**

Please enjoy and review!

* * *

"Well you really did fuck that one up."

"Yes, thank you."

"I told you, you should have done what I said."

"I did!" An incredulous look from the scarred man. "...I was going to."

Raidou sat back against the tree trunk. "Want to know what I'd do now?"

"Hn?"

"Break it off, it's not like you've got any obligation to stick around her, she probably thinks you're a psyco now." Genma sighed.

"Probably."

"And now you've just swanned off on a mission without telling her you've gone?"

"You said to break it off! There's no point in telling her I'm going if I'm going to avoid her." Raidou shrugged.

"It might have been nice, is all," the scarred ANBU said vaguely, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and starring off into the town below the tree they were sitting in.

Genma was doing much the same, sitting on an adjacent branch, his back against the trunk, absentmindedly watching the town below them, it was boring work.

"I didn't _mean_ to throw it," he said once again for about the twentieth time that hour.

"You've said. But it captured your mood, right?" Genma sighed.

"I like Ino," he said.

"Me too," Raidou said, and Genma could hear the leer dripping from his words.

"Leave her alone, Raidou."

"Why?" The question wasn't provocation, he didn't really want to know why Genma had said he should leave Ino alone, it was more like he was proving something to Genma, and Genma knew it; it was more like he was asking 'what reasons could there be for you not wanting other men to like Ino?'. "I think you like her a bit too much," Raidou said in confirmation.

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it," Genma said, an uncomfortable feeling settling over him as he shifted into a better position, "why are you making this some sort of epic romance? It's just sex with a friend."

"Did you ever sleep with Yuugao?"

"Yes."

"Once?"

"...yes."

"Did you ever want to again?"

"Not really...well, sometimes she dresses up and looks really good and I think I could-"

"But you don't."

"No."

"And you've slept with Ino...twice now?"

"So?"

"And you want to sleep with her again?"

"Apparently everyone does," Genma huffed.

"_And _you want to be her friend?"

"I guess."

"You want to be closer to her than just shagging her?"

"Yeah, you know I do it's all we've been talking about for the past two hours. It's not a big deal – it's just an opportunity I'm taking."

"Okay," Raidou answered simply, followed by a nonchalant yawn.

"Okay? What do you mean okay?"

"I mean okay."

"But why say it like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like it's not okay!"

"I didn't, I said 'okay', that means 'okay'."

"You're an idiot."

"I think _you_ are."

"Sh...w...just...why do we have to talk about my problems?" Genma exclaimed, getting exasperated. "Where have all your troubles gone?"

"I'm carefree," Raidou said and again the mocking was evident in his voice.

"You haven't complained about women not wanting to sleep with you in a while." Raidou shrugged again.

"Maybe they've realised the error of their ways?"

"Are you sure that's all that's going on?"

"...yes."

"That's not convincing."

"I'm not trying to convince you of anything." Genma sighed again, recognising the lull of sleep pull him in as he watched the sun creep below the skyline and then the lights in the city below that had come on one by one just minutes earlier blur slightly to his sleepy eyes.

"Do you reckon we'll have to stay here the whole week?" Genma yawned, missing his huge, comfy bed at home.

"Don't know, it depends how long it takes them," Raidou said with a shrug that Genma couldn't see. The 'them' he referred to were the other members of their temporary team which was based on a sort of hybrid 'Ino-Shika-Cho' team where Choza was replaced by Genma, Raidou and a new recruit named Daisuke; though it was increasingly feeling that the two of them were only there for the ride as Inoichi and Shikaku worked together like the components of a well oiled machine, both with skills highly suited to reconnaissance, and that was what this mission was all about. Daisuke also pulled his weight by playing the relay boy and volleying information between the two ANBU in the village and the two out of it, Genma and Raidou.

"I'm going to sleep, you look out."

"Fine, I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Genma got comfy on the branch, or as comfy as one can get suspended nine feet in the air on a bumpy branch. He sighed deeply, wondering how the hell he'd ever resolve the mess he'd got himself in.

XXXXXX

When Ino was young her mother had always told her to watch out for the boys with big, brown eyes, 'nothing but trouble' she'd said and to a young Yamanaka it seemed to make sense since every male in her family had big blue eyes, like her. Looking back on it now she recognised that this was a mother's attempt to steer her daughter away from antisocial and extremely troubled Uchiha boys, however, now she wondered if the man who was making eyes at her from across the crowded out-patients room right that moment would fall under her mother's warning.

His name was Kaito, another ANBU captain who'd been admitted into the hospital after being poisoned on a mission, and indeed he did have the deepest, most seductive, most _amazing_ brown eyes, ever. They weren't dark and sharp and Sasuke-coloured, but they weren't clear like Genma's and she'd wager they couldn't do a 360 from clear and persuasive to clouded and the sexiest thing she'd ever seen like Genma's could. But then again Genma hadn't been so forthcoming recently so this jounin would have to do. In fact it wasn't that he hadn't been so forthcoming as that he just hadn't been present at all. She'd seen him last as a passing glimpse a few days ago; there had been no eye contact but she was sure he'd seen her; it was one of those occasions where one looks away just as the other looks at them, and Ino got the distinct impression he had done it deliberately.

_Great, he's avoiding me_, she had thought, and the avoidance had proved to be more enduring than she'd expected since four days later she'd still not seen him, and she was back to staring around bars miserably as people got together around her. She still didn't feel brave enough to after a man off her own back and that was why Kaito was such a pleasing change.

It was gratifying to be found attractive by someone, even if that someone was just a horny ANBU captain who was out for whatever he could get, and that was why, on an early Friday morning at the hospital she found herself sauntering over to the water cooler right next to where this particular ANBU captain was standing, all the while feeling the agreeable linger of his eyes on her.

"Excuse me," she said lightly as she brushed past him to get to her apparent intended destination, her eyes flitting up to greet his. _Nice._

"Sorry," he replied, moving an exaggerated distance for the room she needed and leaning on the side of the water cooler. "You're from Shika's old team," the man said, examining the blonde's face as she followed through with her plan and tried to look cool and uninterested as she filled up her cup. Inside she grimaced at the association. "He never told me you were so hot." She hadn't been expecting that! As much as she didn't want to her eyes flickered up to his, an unchecked surprised and slightly scandalised look in them.

"I...uh..." she mumbled, scrambling for something that would sound really good, _shit I'm losing it!_

He laughed and the sound made her tense, her muscles responding to her emotions telling her she was being humiliated. "Relax baby, it was a compliment," he said, leaning in and completely disregarding her personal space.

She'd lost it, she realised, feeling caged in by his proximity and unable to get that cornered animal look off her face, and was about to make a hasty exit when he spoke again. "You know you should smile, it's the second best thing you can do with your mouth." _Excuse me?! _Ino stilled, something inside immediately switched onto the offensive, another part just found it funny, but before she could weigh the two reactions she was speaking, urged on by a rambunctious impertinence that had often got her into trouble as a child. _Pull yourself together, idiot, what would you say if Genma said that to you?_

"Second? You obviously don't know what my mouth can do." She couldn't believe she'd said it, but it was nonetheless rewarding to see his smirk falter even if it was just before a broad smile spread across his face.

"That's really good to know," he murmured, dark sultry eyes locking with hers, "I'll keep it in mind."

"And you are?" Ino asked, even though she knew already, she felt it would give her the upper hand if she acted like she hadn't heard of him when he knew her.

"Kaito," he said, "captain of team 204, at your service." She knew he was making it quite obvious that he was in ANBU because any shinobi medic would be familiar with the concept that most ANBU teams were named with three digit numbers.

"A captain, well I am impressed," Ino quipped, accompanied with a slight lilt to her mouth, it was fun playing with him and she felt like she was clawing her way back up the cool, calm and collected scale.

"Really? And here I though you'd be hard to impress, I think you and I could have some fun, Ino." _So he does know my name_, Ino thought, awash with a swell of pride that he didn't just know her as 'Shika's old team mate'. "Are you going to be out tonight?" he asked.

"Are you going to be looking for me?" she countered with raised eyebrows.

"Of course, I know a good thing when I see it." Ino smiled.

"Then...I'll think about it."

"Think about it? You can do better than that." Ino realised that in the midst of their verbal foreplay he'd managed to get even closer to her, now standing right before her and looking down at her with those amazingly brown eyes. Ino 'hmm'ed, making a contemplative face.

"And you're sure you can show me a good time?"

"Positive." was his one word reply, his face looking very serious.

"Well in that case it would be a shame for me to miss out on a good thing."

"So...around eight, at the pub near the Hokage tower?"

"I'll be there."

"You better be," he said lowly, making Ino suddenly aware that his chest was very almost touching her breasts, "or I'll be looking for you."

"Is that a threat?" Ino asked, rising to his challenge and shifting forward until they actually were touching. He was so intense, like his eyes, not playful like Jirou had been or slightly sinister like Sasuke or uber-cool like Shikamaru or...or just Genma-like, like Genma, who had instantly become like an easy, dependable relative; and Ino was responding to his intensity in kind.

Kaito grinned, "No, it's a promise."

XXXXXX

The standard sex dream came back to Genma that night, complete with a blonde, writhing partner and a dark shady setting. It was always the same setting, somewhere he was familiar with in the dream but that was too shady to make out exactly where in reality; besides, he was pretty much focused on other things.

There was no real story to the dream, as was usual, he and his dream partner were just messing about plus a bed and minus a few clothes as the dream got going. However things shifted pretty quickly after the immediate introduction and what was instantly different and slightly unnerving about the illusion was that he was on top this time, which never happened in dream sex, and he wasn't feeling any of the strange, dreamy pleasure that usually accompanied such a phantasmagoric event; instead he still felt out of breath but uncomfortably so, and his chest felt constricted with it's lack of oxygen, his muscles pulling and toiling to no avail: for once in his life sex was very unfulfilling but for the woman beneath him it was not. She had a face but she was faceless to Genma, the sort of vision that he knew he'd forget when he awoke, her face was unimportant, and neither did it seem important that she was so into it, moaning and shifting under his body and he was so...so _not_. What _was_ important was the cold anger that was rising in him. He was angry at her for some reason, angrier than he'd ever been, angrier than his wakeful disposition would allow him to be.

She wasn't using his name either, he realised with a streak of lurid rage, she wasn't acknowledging him at all, it was all her. Her eyes were shut; she wasn't looking at him.

He began thrusting into her more strongly, trying to force recognition into her, this only made her moaning worse. He liked to think that even if this happened in real life he would take satisfaction in that the woman was getting so much pleasure from him, it would still give him a tingle of proud pleasure but he wasn't in control of his sleepy consciousness and his sleepy consciousness was urging him to grip her hips tighter for leverage, leave bruises on her skin, but it only prompted her to bring her hips more strongly up to his in a hard, irrelevant thrust.

The futility of his pounding was what got to him next and so he ground himself onto her, dredging up strength from deep within his muscles to create a damaging force. The woman's moan sounded different when it came out next, higher and shorter: pained. But it wasn't a victory; he didn't feel any happiness from hurting the woman, he was nothing but a bystander in a body controlled by someone else, no pleasure, no say over what actions it took. It was ironic then that the lack of pleasure was what was causing all the violence.

He moved his hands from her hips to her shoulders, wanting to go harder on her, to rip right through her. His fingers dug in, but instead of being met by the firm durability of skin on muscle on bone the shape of her shoulder dented, bending inwards like he'd sunk his fingers into a plasticine shell of a person, he was pretty sure she was hollow inside. The woman gasped, her eyes flying open, _blue eyes, big blue eyes_.

He couldn't grip her like this and so next he went for her hair, tugging a handful away from her head. The woman cried out, her own fingers tightening on his biceps as a way to deal with her torture, but the hair departed from her head easily, as if it were never attached, only resting there.

"Genma," came the whimper from the parted lips, "Genma stop." But he wouldn't; he knew he should – he knew he _had_ to, but he wouldn't, he'd gone too far. He bent to kiss her in what began as a reassuring gesture, a gesture that said she'd be okay because he was Genma somewhere inside and Genma didn't do things like this but the kiss ended with him biting her lips, chewing on the plump flesh and feeling chucks of them detach from her mouth and move into his. He tasted blood in his mouth, dribbling down his chin, he felt her screams vibrate through him, he felt the chunks of pink flesh bump against his teeth and gums.

Parting from her he found huge blue eyes staring at him, a mouth that would have been half open in shock had most of it still been in tact, hands that were clawing at his arms to let up their excruciating grip on hers, but most significantly her face was recognisable, he couldn't mistake the blue eyes or that look of shock, the same as had been written on it the last time he'd seen her.

"Ino?" She smacked him across his face.

"Wake up, idiot." He was being shaken. "Wake up, now! Genma!" He was trying to open his eyes but was having trouble, the whole left side of his face stung badly, the taste of blood lingered in his mouth, his blood. He had trouble believing he was awake. Through half opened eyes he saw big blue ones staring at him. _Am I asleep?_

"Inoich..." he smelt blood around him, a wave of nausea told him to go back, go back to unconsciousness, sleep.

"No! Wake up!"

"Something's wrong," he slurred, feeling the gurgle of blood in his mouth, remembering his dream and being overcome by a wave of disgust, how could he dream _that_?!

"We have to get to Konoha, we-" he stopped speaking and at that moment Genma didn't care why because at about the same time an agonizing pain ripped through his chest, red leaking down his vest and the feeling of the cold air biting at the skin of his torso.

"Ah!" he cried, his eyes rolling back in his head. The heavy weight of Inoichi fell onto him, he could just about recognise the warmness of the blonde's blood soaking his chest and down his legs. "Ino...chi?" he murmured recognising that his friend was bleeding and possibly dying, but then again, he thought as his head lolled to the side, darkness creeping into to his blurred vision of green grass, a tree, a body, Raidou's body, death would be preferable to the pain. He began to shake, cold wind washing over him and turning Inoichi's blood cold of his skin. _What the fuck's happening?_

The violence of his dream sickened him, he still felt like he could feel the denting of her skin as his fingers pressed through it and that pitiful look on her face. _What the fuck's happening to me?_

XXXXXX

"Five ANBU," Tsunade announced, sweeping into the break room with five files and dropping them onto the coffee table, "take your pick, they're all pretty critical so I want you all out there working on them in under two minutes."

"What happened?" Ino asked, spreading the files over the table surface and reading over the injuries - head traumas, broken bones, internal bruising, concussions; it looked bad.

Tsunade didn't reply straight away, instead when Ino looked up to enquire further she saw that the Hokage was staring at her as if she hadn't known she was in the room.

"Ambush," Tsunade replied slowly, "but those are just the reports from the field medics, Ino, it's only a quick estimation," she added quickly, eyeing the blonde worriedly. Ino nodded, picking up on the sense of foreboding and trying to decipher the seemingly significant looks that were volleying back and forth from the other three medics that had flocked to the coffee table. "Where's Sakura?" Ino heard Tsunade hiss at a temp whose crime seemed to be just being there.

"She on this afternoon, her shift starts at one." Tsunade made an angry noise in the back of her throat.

"Yuki, get Sakura here now, I need her to help,"

"Shit this looks really bad," Ino heard a fellow medic mutter from behind her. _Yeah, no shit._ "Namiashi and Shiranui? I thought they were just backup?"

_Genma?! _

"Genma?" she murmured, already searching through the files frantically, Genma was injured? Genma was 'pretty critical'?! She hadn't even known he was out of the village! She stared at the names on the files, Namiashi Raidou, Ito Daisuke, Nara Shikaku, Shiranui Genma, Yamanaka Inoichi. A surge of emotion flooded her; she felt like she was in a rollercoaster that had just plummeted downwards and left her stomach suspended at the summit. It was so much worse that just Genma. She gaped at the names, her eyes blinking and flitting backwards and forwards from the two most important to make sure they was real, that they _were_ the names she was seeing:

_Shiranui Genma – broken rib, dislocated ankle, internal bleeding in the chest cavity, 35cm sword wound – abdominal to clavicle, fractured clavicle, dislocated shoulder, unconscious._

_Inoichi Yamanaka – CRITICAL, internal bleeding, crushed organs, comatose (more possible, difficult to see inside body)_

Her fingers dived for her father's file.

"No, Ino," Tsunade said softly, gently touching her shoulder, "wait for Sakura."

"But-"

"_No_ Ino, take one of the others."

"Let me help, let me help Sakura! Please!"

"We don't have enough medics, Ino, take one of the others," Tsunade said firmly. Ino was about to defy but she really didn't have the energy, rationally she knew that in the hands of Sakura her father would be in the best care in the whole hospital. She sighed, suddenly feeling very small in the world, the sinking feeling threatening to push her under. "She's the best, Ino," Tsunade continued more softly, more kindly, squeezing her shoulder, "if you're not feeling up to working it's alright, I'll come and find you later when we know more about his condition, okay?" Ino shook her head, feeling tears begin at her eyes with every kind word the Hokage imparted to her. She stared despondently at the remaining files, _I need to work_. She picked up Genma's.

"I'll take Shiranui," she said quietly; _the next best_.

"Ino, it'll be okay." Tsunade reiterated, "do you want to contact your mother yourself or...?"

"Not really," she said quietly, "but don't...don't tell her yet. She'll just worry and it'll be a lot of waiting around so...not yet."

"Ino, she needs to be told if he...doesn't...if he doesn't make it." Ino flinched.

"Please not yet," she said.

XXXXXX

Genma was lying on a sterilised white slab, his eyes closed, his ANBU vest torn and bloody, his face smeared with dirt and crimson and his black trousers glistening with an eerie red gleam: blood, all over, trickling over the white counter and pooling onto the floor. He would have looked dead if it weren't for the slow rise and fall of his chest or the hiss of his rasping breaths.

Ino gulped. "Shit," she murmured, _maybe I can't do this?_

"His pupils are responding," a young trainee medic said, walking hurriedly over to Ino with a clip board, "He was writhing and moaning so I've given him morphine for the pain, I didn't want to use chakra until you were here in case I did something wrong." Ino glanced down at the list of injuries she'd scribbled on the clip-board and looked up at the trainee, taking in how her gloved hands were covered in blood, Genma's blood, which was also smeared down her cheek, possibly put there during an effort to tame her unruly hair which was bursting out from behind a white hair band, and finally how relieved her eyes looked since she'd entered the room.

"Emi, right?" Ino asked, seeing the name printed in bold lettering on her name tag. She nodded. "You've done good." Ino moved towards the table, taking strength from the hope in the novice healer's eyes, "get someone to clean this," she said, gesturing towards all the blood, "then we'll sort out that chest wound. What've they tried to stick it together with?" Ino asked, peering at the mess of flesh and blood and some sort of gauze and thread.

"I have no idea, but I don't think it's done much good, it's all sort of...mixed together."

"Hm," Ino said, snapping on a pair of gloves and parting the wound gently only to be greeted with a mess of blood and puss and material, "lovely," she muttered, "right, hold this apart a bit, just gently. I'm going to check for damage to the internal organs."

Ino felt the chakra leave her, her gaze narrowed and levelled on the gash; she weaved herself through his body, feeling the torn tissue and broken cells quiver under the flow of her chakra. She healed the minor tears but as she delved further into the chest cavity the minor rips became a gaping hole in the wall of his lungs. "Punctured lung," Ino said, opening her eyes and removing her chakra from his body, "his rib is broken too, I think it pierced the lung whilst he was being transported here."

"What shall we do?" the medic asked nervously.

"We'll just have to repair the cells, you know how to use chakra to promote cell replication?" The medic nodded.

"Yes...sort of," she answered, her eyes darting from the wound to Ino uncertainly.

"Well you can learn now."

With the two of them working, pumping chakra into his chest to heal the lung, the work was done in about half the time it should have taken. A cleaner came to mop up the blood but neither paid any attention, their focus completely centred on the movement of their chakra around his lungs until the hole was almost completely fixed and his breathing became level and normal.

It was just as Emi had stepped back and Ino was numbing the area around his lung to make his breathing easier that he began moving.

"Ino," Emi said, that ever present anxiety lacing her voice. Ino's eyes flickered up to Emi then down to where her gaze was fixed on Genma's face.

"Ino...?" Genma rasped followed by a deep, masculine groan of pain. A flurry of irrational happiness bubbled up inside her before it was doused in the logic of the pain he'd suffer if he actually realised what was happening to him.

"Shit," Ino cursed quietly, "he needs to be asleep for this." She removed her chakra from his chest and moved it to his temples. It only took a light tickling of chakra on the right part of his brain and once again he was out like a light.

"What next?" the trainee asked, pushing the hair back from her forehead with her wrist from where it had fallen slightly and breathing heavily with the stress of using a lot of energy.

"The wound; he's breathing properly but it won't matter if he bleeds to death."

"It's already started clotting...sort of," she said, eyeing the mess of wound and bandage with disgust.

"Here," Ino said, giving the trainee medic a pair of long tweezers, "try to remove as much of the gauze as possible."

XXXXXX

After the removal of gauze they spent more time stopping the bleeding, clotting the blood until his torso had at least some semblance of a chest and not just a gaping mass of flesh and blood. As Ino moved up towards his broken clavicle he felt her breath catch in her throat.With a recoil of horror her eyes landed on a slight discolouration of skin on the patient's shoulder, narrowly missing being sliced by whatever weapon caused the bloody injury. It was some sort of birth mark, some sort of mark that made him Genma, not just a patient, a stain that marked the area of flesh she'd clutched to in a moment of passion. Her chakra wavered.

"What's wrong?" Emi asked, her eyes wide and staring anxiously at Ino.

"Nothing," Ino muttered, shaking her head. _Stop it,_ she scolded herself, _he's _just_ a patient._

"I can't do much more," the trainee puffed through shallow breaths.

"No," Ino agreed feeling her chakra begin to splutter from her hands.

"What shall we do?" she asked, removing her hands and stretching the stiffness from her fingers.

"The ankle," Ino murmured, pointing to where his foot stuck out at a strange angle, "you can do it without chakra?" The medic nodded and set about it whilst Ino stared at his chest, knowing that underneath the skin his ribs were broken and tender.

She knew it had to be healed fast before the bone became too difficult and dangerous to move and she knew that finding a medic with a strong chakra supply at this hour of the afternoon was near impossible. Ino could only think of one solution to her problem but it in itself was untested and only a passing fancy she'd thought up one day, she'd never tried it on patients. What Ino had discovered whilst playing around with her unusual mind manipulation abilities was that she was sometimes able to tap into different channels of her target's psyche, one such channel being their ability to create and mould chakra. He could heal himself if she set his chakra on the right track, using her medic's abilities to guide him in what to do. Again it was risky and untested but she didn't want to risk his lung puncturing again from the jagged bone re-piercing through the good work they had done.

Ino closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _You better appreciate this Genma_, she thought as she lifted her hands to her temples, drawing out her last remaining chakra supply to stimulate Genma's and seize control of his flow of chakra. She felt it move within her, the same feeling she got when she took over someone's mind except she wasn't allowing the feeling to consume her, not enough for her mind to slip into him but enough for her influence to sway the way his chakra moved. She moved her hand up to his clavicle as if she herself were healing it except she sent stream of his own chakra there, another down to his rib, coaxing it to heal the damage done and knit the bone back together.

His chakra was strong and plentiful and it sucked her own in like they were opposite poles of a magnet; she felt her hold on her technique slip and threaten to send her mind tumbling into Genma's body. She could feel the sore, bruised flesh around the broken protrusion of bone as if it were her own and her breath ached in her chest. She felt her own body jolt with pain as the chakra first began to flow through the tissue, numbing the sting and righting the bone. She hissed in a gasp, she couldn't control it.

"Ino? Ino? Are you okay?" She felt someone shake her shoulder gently and her grip on his chakra movement slipped. Her eyes snapped open as a surge of clear air entered her lungs in one painless sweep, a rushing feeling racing through her head and making her the room spin causing her body to fall forwards and her hands to flail out desperately to clutch the bed before she collapsed.

"Yes," she breathed, "I'm fine." She slumped down into the chair beside his bed, her chest heaving with the relief of painless oxygen. "We'll leave the shoulder for tomorrow," Ino said, "but I'll clean him up a bit, just in case relatives come."

The trainee nodded silently, wiping sweat away from her forehead once again and watching as Ino struggled out of her chair and removed some long bandages from a draw on the portable tray.

It took the two of them the best part of an hour struggling with an adult jounin's body weight and finally complete bandaging his chest so the angry wound was not visible. When finished they stood back, admiring a very almost fixed jounin

"He looks..." Emi began, staring at Genma, "he looks..."

"Peaceful?"

"I was going to say hot," the young medic grinned cheekily, "but I guess peaceful works too." Ino huffed a laugh.

"I guess he does."

"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked uncertainly.

"He better be," Ino said, worrying her lip in her teeth and meaning it much more than the woman beside her knew.

XXXXXX

When Ino had finally emerged from Genma's room her mother had been contacted and was sitting in the relative's room near the operating theatre that Sakura was toiling over her father in. She sat silently next to her mother, her slim form more frail than she'd ever seen it before and her tired, harassed eyes staring forward. She slid her hand over her mother's, hoping to feel the validity of her mother's sure grip around her fingers; she felt nothing.

At length the situation proved just too much for Ino; the waiting was killing her, and sitting, trying to be strong for her mother in that grey room whilst viewing a dejected looking Shikamaru being comforted by his _preferred_ blonde through the glass window of the door into the opposite room was doing nothing to help her. So far consoling her mother had kept her from breaking down but if seeing Temari slide a soothing hand down Shika's back was bad, the tips of her fingers disappearing under the waistband of his trousers, seeing him lean into her as her fingers smoothed along his skin and his head rest comfortably on her shoulder was all she could take.

"I'm going for a walk," Ino said quietly as she watched a nurse she often worked with come in and set down a cup of tea for her mother. The elder woman nodded silently, still staring at the white wall opposite with dull, unseeing eyes.

Outside the room Ino found Sakura skulking around; she started as Ino opened the door.

"Sakura," Ino began urgently, "is he...is he...?"

"Tsunade's with him, I ran out of chakra, I'm sorry." Ino sighed, not knowing whether to be relieved he wasn't dead or filled with dread that after ten hours he was still needing to be doused in chakra.

"Is he stable?" The look on Sakura's face told her he was not. "Fuck," Ino muttered under her breath, tears building up in her eyes. Sakura touched Ino's arm consolingly.

"I think you should go home for the night, try and get some sleep."

"No, I'm okay," she said, "do you know how any of the others are?" Ino asked, trying desperately not to focus on her father so she wouldn't cry.

"Daisuke sustained minor injuries and was sent home, Shikaku's stable but sleeping and Raidou woke up about an hour ago, I don't know about Genma."

"I was working on him, he's okay, I did all I could and he's stable." Sakura nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want to go home? I'm heading off now, I could go with you if you don't want to be alone."

"No, really, I'll stay with my Ma, we'll be okay." Ino said quietly.

"If you want me to come round or you want to talk, any time, just call me and I'll be there." Ino smiled.

"Thanks, I'm okay." Sakura nodded, releasing her gentle grip on her arm and disappeared down the corridor.

As Ino walked alone down the hospital's corridor she told herself that her feet were just trudging independent of her thought process, but of course they weren't and as she approached the very room her mind was resting on she could deny it no longer; they were travelling towards a very distinct destination.

"Hey again," Ino said as she slid through the door to the patient's room, not really expecting an answer from the static jounin but uttering the greeting anyway...just in case. "I really wish you'd wake up," she said as she sat down in the chair next to the bed, the chair reserved for visitors - relatives and close friends; she wasn't sure she was either and so it compelled her to say: "I'm sorry for disturbing you again, some people say they can hear those around them when they've undergone that sort of brain modification, so if you really want me to shut up then...sorry."

Even though he was asleep and the chances were very slim that he even knew where he was let alone who was sitting next to him, she felt strange, the silence between them felt uncomfortable even though he couldn't answer, even if he wanted to. _I really wish he'd wake up_, Ino thought, worrying her lip in her teeth as she though of the possibility that she may loose the Special Jounin. _He _needs_ to wake up._

"They're canoodling, you know," Ino said, trying desperately to keep her mind off the prospect of loosing _anyone_, "his father is unconscious and they're _canoodling_!" She stayed quiet for a moment, studying Genma's chest and the large bandage wrapped around it. "He knows about us you know, so...I'm sorry for kicking you out that morning, I just thought that...well I don't know." A thought suddenly occurred to her, an insane thought that drew parallels from their relationship to Shika and Temari's, "do you think _we'd _be canoodling, you know if you hadn't been on the mission? Would you be here with me? As my friend? Or as my Dad's friend? I guess you couldn't kiss me if you were here for him, it would kind of defeat the object." Ino sighed.

"Ren's on the night watch," Ino told her jounin, "you'd like Ren, she's pretty and I bet she'd be easy to get into bed." Ino smirked despite the situation, chatting with Genma, even if the conversation was one sided, was making her feel momentarily better. "In fact you probably know her already...so...oh! I know! I met a guy today, he's called Kaito and he's and ANBU captain – another one. I didn't know I attracted them but apparently I do. Why aren't you a captain, Genma?" Ino looked down at her own fingers, finding that she been fidgeting as she spoke and her fingers were intertwined in a strange way.

"I think my Dad's going to die," she said suddenly, her eyes flicking up to his face as she said it as if her shocking words might shock him into consciousness; of course they didn't. "Sakura says Tsunade's still working on him, I don't want to sleep, what if he-" she paused, unable to voice that her father may die in the night, she felt a lump form in her throat, "my Ma's out there, waiting for news; I can't just sit and wait, and you're no help!" she said with a breathy, quivering laugh that didn't quite cut it, her voice cracking with her exclamation and coming out sounding high and strained. "I really need you to wake up, Genma," she said her lip trembling; "I need a friend, that's what we are right? I need you now." She watched his face for any flicker of movement. "If you woke up then it would have been really poignant," Ino shuddered out a sigh, "and you would have told me that everything would be okay, wouldn't you? Because it's just like you to say that." Ino found she was eyeing his hand, she wanted to hold it but something was holding her back; for some reason, despite the fact that they'd been as close to each other as it was humanly possible for a man and woman to be, she felt that holding his hand would to _too_ personal, too intimate. "You scared me when you threw that bottle, you know. You're supposed to be cool, Genma," she couldn't help but smile slightly as she said it, it sounded childish, "Was that just a bad day or something? Were you really that angry?"

In the end, after staring at his immobile hand for ten minutes, she opted for leaning over the bed and brushing his hair off his face, it was intimate but not in the same way. It was immediate and physical, just like their relationship. It was allowed and the physical contact was over far too quickly. "You better not avoid me after this," she said as she sat back in her chair wishing she could instigate some more lingering contact with him, knowing she couldn't; it would only give her ideas, "I'm almost all out of chakra, Tsunade's given me a few days off to recover, I don't want them, I want to work – it'll keep my mind off you both." She smiled sadly at the brown haired ANBU, "if you're still asleep I'll come and visit you tomorrow but if you wake up...you probably don't want to see me or you wouldn't have been avoiding me, I don't want to corner you so...I guess I'll wait for your call-"

"Ino?" the voice startled Ino and she turned abruptly to the source of the sound – a purple haired woman standing at the door.

"Hey," Ino said, immediately standing up and fussing over the bandage that covered his chest, acting like a medic once again, not a friend or a...or a whatever else they were. "I'm just finishing here, I'll leave you two alone."

"Hasn't he woken up yet?" Yuugao asked, stepping further into the room, her eyes fixed on the unconscious shinobi.

"Not yet but I wish he would, it makes diagnosing so much easier if he can tell me what's wrong. I had to prevent him from waking with chakra, we were messing about with his internal organs, see, and the process isn't pleasant when you're awake," Ino explained, putting on that emotional, professional voice that she used with relatives, "talk to him, it might help him wake up." Yuugao nodded.

"Thanks Ino," she said quietly, looking up at the blonde and smiling. Ino felt unsure about smiling back, she envied this woman who was so close to Genma and she knew by the standards of their relationship she wasn't allowed to. "I'm sorry about your da-"

"It's okay, Tsunade's with him," she said quickly. Yuugao nodded, recognising she didn't want to discuss her father's condition and moved her eyes back to Genma.

"Shall I get you when he wakes up?"

"No, it's not necessary, I don't want to heal anything else tonight, It'll put strain on his body, I just want him kept calm-"

"No, I meant do you want to know so you can come and see him...you know just to...just to see him." The atmosphere in the room shifted with the acknowledgement of a relationship between herself and Genma; Yuugao didn't seem to care though, her passive gaze watching Ino with interest and so Ino could only surmise that it was only she that was uncomfortable and only she that had a problem with the relationship.

"He'll probably feel calmer with friends, not medics." Ino replied quietly, averting her eyes to try and dissuade any further questions. Yuugao raised her eyebrows and attempted one last attack before she backed down.

"If you're sure," she said, "he might want to-"

"No, really, just make sure he's comfortable, if he needs anything the night nurse is Ren, she'll help you," Ino said firmly, leaving no room for anymore protestation from Yuugao, however passive it was.

"Okay." Ino moved away from the chair, giving room for Yuugao to sit. Just as Ino was exiting the room she heard Yuugao say, "I'll tell him you were here though."

Ino sighed and closed her eyes, she really didn't want that but she had a feeling the purple haired jounin would find a way to drop her into the conversation anyway. As she passed the break room she saw it was vacant and so, not fancying sitting and watching Temari and Shikamru cosying together to sleep, decided this would be the place she curled up and cried for the night.

XXXXXX

"Oh, fuck me," came the sleepy utterance of a curse.

"Mind your language, please, Shiranui-san."

Opening his eyes this time was much easier, even though they felt dry and stiff from lack of use and ill treatment.

"Ren...?" he murmured sleepily. The young nurse did a double take, gazing at the jounin oddly.

"...yes, have we met before?" Her question mustn't have held much weight in his mind since a second later his concussed consciousness completely forgot she'd asked it. Genma glanced to the side, feeling a weight on his hand.

"Yuugao?" he muttered in response to the purple haired head that rested sound asleep next to their entwined hands.

"Shiranui-san, please stop moving," Ren said, righting his head to the front and taking a dropper and small bottle from a tray. "Open your eyes as wide as you can, please," Ren was instructing as she filled the dropper and the next thing he knew was the uncomfortable feeling of something wet invading his eyes. He tried to move but she felt him firmly, "It's just eye drops," she said gently, repeating the action to the second eye.

"Who are you?" he murmured, not entirely caring but asking anyway.

"I'm Ren, a nurse, do you know where you are?" He looked around as his vision cleared slightly, spying a drip that ran from the fluid bag hanging on the wall to the vein on his arm, then the stark white walls and generic patterned curtains and quilt cover.

"Hospital?" he muttered, his throat killing him. "I'm thirsty," he said.

"I'll get you some water," Ren told him, scribbling something down on a clip board before lowering it and smiling broadly at the ANBU. "Anything else?" she was asking as Genma attempted to shift up the bed into a half sitting position.

"Ouch."

"Be careful," she said, laying a hand on his chest to halt his movement, "It's night, Yamanaka-san said she wanted you to sleep as much as possible and wake up tomorrow feeling better."

"Yan-man-aka-san," Genma slurred hazily, looking down at the nurse's hand touching the only bit of his torso not covered in a tightly wrapped bandage. A wave of nausea struck, he was injured, he couldn't remember how but the image of blue eyes suddenly struck him. Blue eyes, blonde hair, hair that was tied up messily and hung in her face as she worked and eyes that were looking down on him, not his face but somewhere south of his face, a tingle in his chest that was ever so slightly painful but a good kind of pain, one that promised relief. Her expression was so serious. "Ino?" he murmured sleepily. He remembered those blue eyes again, this time looking up at him, she was terrified and he was clutching her too hard, pulling out her hair, denting her skin, "where's...is...she," he could feel his eyes closing and he could tell that what he'd just said didn't make sense. He felt overcome by sadness, he'd hurt Ino, hadn't he? He couldn't remember what he'd done, he knew that some of it was a dream; he could remember having a bad dream but its contents were hazy. "I'm so...sor...ry." He was mixed up and couldn't recall which bits were dream and which were reality. It was so much easier to just go to sleep.

Ren watched the confused ANBU fight sleep, murmuring listlessly about where Ino was. He was muttering something about how sorry he was and that he had to tell Ino but his murmuring soon became so slow and slurred that what he was saying couldn't be made out, and finally it dissolved further into deep breaths; he was asleep but fitfully so, his face screwed in a way that looked as if he were in pain. She'd seen Ino asleep in the break room, curled up under herself and with raw, red eyes, and wondered what exactly Genma had done to be sorry about.

XXXXXX

By dawn the next day Genma had awoken properly, coaxed to wakefulness by gentle goading from Yuugao.

Ino had watched it through the glass window in the patient's room door and seethed with jealousy. _I'm so fucking pathetic_, she told herself as she watched Genma grip Yuugao's hand for the first time since she'd grasped his the night before.

Ino felt more lonely than she had ever felt in her life. She daren't go to her mother in case she had news of her father, she didn't want to bother Sakura that early in the morning, Shika was intertwined with Temari in their waiting room and Genma was busy with his proper friend.

Ino turned and leaned heavily against the wall next to Genma's door, rubbing her temples furiously; she could feel the mother of all migraines coming on. She knew it was her own fault because she'd slept on a wooden chair all night and got about four hours tops. "Oh shit," she breathed, covering her face in her hands, feeling hopelessness swooping down over her.

"He's asking for you." Ino's head snapped up.

"Yuugao? What are you-"

"Please go and see him." Ino was taken aback by the pleading in her voice, she nodded slowly, mentally collecting herself. "Has Raidou been sent home yet?" she asked.

"Er – I don't know, sorry." Yuugao shrugged.

"That's okay." Ino smiled a thin smile, unnerved that the purple haired ANBU was just standing there staring at her. Suddenly she was pulled into a tight hug. "Thank you so much," Yuugao whispered, "I didn't know what to expect when they called me in."

"I...it's fine, I was just doing my job." Yuugao pulled away, startling Ino further by her red, teary eyes.

"I promised Raidou I'd see him this morning," she said, wiping her eyes furiously, then she paused "don't tell Genma, he doesn't know about...me and Raidou." _I didn't know_, Ino thought, "it's nothing serious just...just, well _you_ know." Ino nodded. Yuugao walked away but then turned swiftly, "I hope you get good news," she added quietly, "it's...I know what it's like, waiting for news." The she turned again and was gone leaving Ino alone with the problem of Genma's door. _Why am I so nervous?_ she wondered, _it's only Genma._

* * *

I really hope this comes across like I wanted it to. I felt like I'd read it so many times that to me I knew what I was trying to say but if I read it for the first time I might not, see? Hmmm

Review if you would be so kind. xx.


	9. Solace

My tongue is officially pierced! After weeks of reading all these things on the internet of people saying 'it doesn't hurt at all!' I got it done. It fucking hurt!! But I'm quite proud of it :)

Out early! Which probably means mistakes but I thought I'd post it anyway because I'm computerless over the weekend!

**Warning: pretty mild one, but quite a bit of bad language.**

* * *

As Ino entered the room Genma was trying to sit up in the bed and the nervous, girly butterflies in her stomach gave way to a professional, Hokage's apprentice trained medic.

"Hey, stop, you're shoulder's still dislocated!" she said, hurrying over to his bedside to try and stop him.

"Yeah, I could tell by the massive f-off pain in my shoulder when I woke up," he grunted, persisting with sitting up against his pillows anyway. Ino tutted but condescended to prop his pillows up for him so he wouldn't try and twist his hand around and do it himself.

"I knew you'd be a difficult patient," Ino said, her brows raised cynically. Genma looked up at her and she got her first glimpse of calm hazel eyes in almost a week. The connection seemed significant, to Ino at least, although she didn't know whether she was just feeling sentimental because one of her precious people was okay. She smiled slightly and looked away, unnerved by the silence and the eye contact and feeling deeply disturbed that she actually _wanted _it to mean something significant. She wanted to be a relived friend or relative and not just an occasional sex partner and now a medic.

Genma coughed, recognising the silence and the need to break it. He felt happy to see her; it set his mind at rest: she wasn't scared of him, she didn't hate him, and _god_ her eyes were so blue! His dream had got it wrong; her eyes hadn't been beautiful enough. _Oh damn, I'm staring._

"Hey...are you my medic?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse and wheezy.

"Yeah...so?" Genma grinned.

"So that means I get a sponge bath off you later?"

"Ew! No! I'm a medic, not a nurse _thank _you!" Genma just shrugged.

"Doctors and nurses then?"

"What, you're going to be the nurse?" Genma screwed his nose up.

"No way, I'm already feeling a bit emasculated, can't you just pretend?"

"I'd say a bit of emasculation would do you good." Genma gave a fake grimace then smiled when Ino batted him on the arm, momentarily forgetting he was ill. "Besides do you know what agro I went though to become a medic? You're not demoting me to nursing staff, no way. I spent half a year working as a nurse here," Ino shivered at the recollection of changing catheters and sponge bathing old men, "no, _never_ again, not even in play," she said, moving over to the sink in the corner of the room and running some warm water.

"Bet I could get you to change your mind," Genma said, smirking once again.

"Well, you could try," Ino compromised, feeling girly and giddy to be flirting with him but also stupid doing it with a man who'd just been crushed and slashed by what appeared to be a massive sword; he wouldn't be able to do _anything_ of that sort in a while, and that them actually doing anything of that sort was only meant in a hypothetical sense was actually kind of displeasing for Ino: she didn't want _hypothetical_.

"Did you heal me?" he asked, serious suddenly, attempting to pick up the beaker of water that somebody had left at his bedside. Ino sighed and hurried back with a warm damp cloth, putting it into his hands instead and getting the cup herself.

"Here," she said, aiming the straw in the cup to his lips.

"Did you?" he asked, now ignoring the drink altogether in favour of staring into her eyes.

Ino nodded emphatically at the straw but again he ignored it. She sighed.

"Yes, I did, but you're not completely better yet, so please drink, it'll make your throat less scratchy." Slowly he took the straw between his lips, all the while keeping his gaze steady on her face, watching the path of her eyes as she brought his hand up to clasp the beaker then collected the cloth and brought it to his face. "You're face is still filthy," she said absently, running the flannel over his face, it stung him.

"I had a dream that you hit me," he said, wincing at the pain on the left side of his face.

"You probably deserved it," Ino said, smirking when she felt his eyes on her again.

"Why are you my medic?" he asked. Ino looked at him, passing him a strange glance.

"Why not?"

"Did you choose to be?" he asked, a hint of wonder in his voice.

"We got given five files to choose from...well four actually," Ino said quietly, not liking the way the conversation was veering towards the other injured ninja which would surely end up centred on her father.

"Five files," Genma murmured absently, "Five others? Were they brought in with me?" Ino nodded, trying to make it seem like she was engrossed in cleaning his face and _not_ looking at his eyes, hoping he wouldn't ask what he was about to. "Who?" he asked. Ino took a deep breath.

"Don't you remember what happened?" she countered, trying to delay the inevitable.

"No, not really," Genma said, using his uninjured arm to scratch an awkward itch on his shoulder blade, "I had some vivid dreams, _disturbing_ ones, I remembered...our fight." Ino smiled tightly. There was silence for a second before he asked the dreaded question, "Who else was injured?"

Ino took her time in answering, wiping the last of the dirt off Genma's face before returning to the sink, rinsing out the cloth and finally coming to rest in the bedside chair. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, suddenly realising she had no make up on, hadn't done her hair that morning, had been awake half the night and crying for the other half; she must look like shit.

"Er – well, there was Ito Daisuke," she said, beginning with the least important to her with the most minor injuries. Genma made a strange, contemplative face, straining to remember ever going on a mission with 'Ito Daisuke'. "Then Raidou, he was with you, he woke up a few hours ago."

"Raidou?"

"Yeah, do you remember anything about the ambush?" Ino asked tentatively, trying to guess what could have happened to her father.

"No, not really, except I remember remembering being in a tree, was I in a tree?"

"Could have been, you have pretty bad bruising on your left side – same side as your shoulder - you could have fallen I guess." Genma nodded silently, staring hard at the comforter on his bed.

"Was I..." he stopped, his forehead furrowed in complete concentration, "was I on a white counter thing?" Ino nodded.

"It's what we use for particularly dirty, bloody patients, so we don't have to keep washing the sheets. Finished?" she asked absently, gesturing to the cup of water, he nodded and handed it back.

"Was I a mess?" he asked, seriously.

"Yes, and you still are," Ino said, smiling fondly at the brown haired shinobi, "but you'll do. Do you remember being on the counter?"

"Kind of, I saw you above me and I could feel it was really hard – err - the counter."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yes, I get it," Ino tutted, "we moved you into the bed when we were finished and changed you out of your uniform."

"My sexy uniform?" he asked, smirking, "get a good look did ya?" Ino deadpanned.

"Oh yes, half dead ninja really get me hot."

"I'll remember that," he said, his eyes glinting mischievously. Ino smiled and they shared a look that Genma was sure would turn into a pretty hot kiss and maybe a bit of a sympathy grope if he was lucky but unfortunately they were interrupted.

"Shiranui-san, time for – oh! Yamanaka-sempai," Ino turned to see Ren's replacement for the day; she looked nervous as she took in Ino. "Sakura-san would like to speak with you," she said in a quieter and altogether more sober tone, "she's...she's just finished with your father." _Finished_ with him? Ino's heart jumped then pounded hard against her ribs; it was such a shock to hear because to be brutally honest in those last few moments with Genma she'd forgotten all about her father, suffering a few rooms away...or maybe not suffering any more.

"Genma, I have to go," Ino said, getting up, her fingers falling out of a grip she couldn't remember Genma giving her.

"Wait, Inoichi's with _Sakura_? Why, what happened? Was he with me? Fuck, is he okay?" Genma said, sitting up straight and ignoring the twinge of pain somewhere in his ribcage. Sakura was as good as a chief medic, she generally only worked with the worst of the worst patients, "Ino, what - oh fuck," Genma winced as his heart began to hammer inside his chest, "he was there...he was...bleeding on me, he was – fuck!" Genma wheezed, his throat straining to make sound and his lungs feeling slow and heavy - he was remembering things, horrible things, like the sound of Inoichi's breath gurgling in his throat and a vague thought that it was blood, dribbling down Inoichi's chin and onto Genma's ANBU vest, and the feel of his warm blood sinking from his chest and into Genma's own gaping wound.

"It's alright," Ino said quietly, gently pushing his shoulder back and brushing her fingers lightly along the hand that had been gripping hers. "She just wants to talk to me." Ino soothed, trying to calm his heavy breaths. "You have to stay calm, your lung was crushed and perforated, breathing'll be different for a few days."

"Ino he's really hurt," Genma warned between laboured breaths.

"It's okay," she whispered, brushing sweaty brown hair from his forehead.

"Will you come back later?" he rasped, not thinking at that moment how vulnerable and needy he sounded. Ino nodded, already heading out the door.

"Make sure he's calm," he heard Ino quietly instruct the nurse who nodded, her cheery exterior truly vanquished.

XXXXXX

"Don't worry," Sakura said as soon as Ino hurried into her office, "It's good news." Ino let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding, an immense relief washed over her.

"Thank god," she muttered under her breath.

"We finally got him stable last night, I'm fairly sure he isn't going anywhere yet."

"Yet?" Ino asked, a hint of foreboding creeping back into her mind.

"He was wounded very badly, Ino, he's not going to get better very soon: he probably won't wake up for a few days yet but at least his heart rate's steady and we have the internal bleeding under control."

"What happened?" Ino asked, _and who the hell messed my dad up so bad?_

"Well, you remember when we did that report on that group of crazy swordsmen from Water?" Ino nodded, dreading what she'd find they had to do with it. "Well I can only think it was a sword like that, right through his torso." Ino gasped, "It missed his spine, barely, his ribs were shattered, his organs crushed; it was like human jam inside his body."

"Shit," Ino murmured, "how the hell have you got him stable?"

"With _a lot_ of chakra," Sakura said, exhaling a short laugh, "We almost lost him early this morning; I was called in, now I'm all out!"

"Are we allowed to see him?" Sakura's face fell.

"He's still a mess Ino, it's very distressing to see a relative like that, you know that," she warned, "your mother is with him now but I don't think it's done her any good, she's just staring at him; she looks as bad as he does. Anyway we're going to work on the superficial damage tomorrow: you can definitely see him then."

"Thank you _so _much," Ino said, barely containing the paradoxical feelings inside her; she was so glad her dad was stable but it distressed her that her mother was taking the situation so badly. She grabbed Sakura in a squeezing hug.

"It was a pleasure," Sakura laughed, "I'm just relieved to see you smile again." Ino rewarded that comment with another smile. "How about we go and get an early lunch?" Sakura suggested, not letting Ino protest as she pulled her out the door.

XXXXXX

A little while after Ino and the nurse had left Genma immediately felt a haze of fatigue descend over him which reminded him that although he could stare at Ino all morning and recall the vision of her above him doing naughty and incredible things to him, and although he could flirt with the day nurse as if he didn't look like he'd just been slashed through the chest, he still had and he was still feeling pretty rough.

He was just beginning to forget about the haunting image of a half dead Inoichi and his eyes were just beginning to close when the first of his stream of visitors came in.

"Well, you've certainly got her well trained."

Genma opened his eyes to find a woman standing at the corner of his bed nearest the door, which wasn't as pleasant as it should have been. His contented smile slipped off his face.

"Rei?" A past exploit returning was hardly ever a good thing, especially when he was incapacitated in a hospital bed, and especially when she had _that_ kind of smile on her face: it didn't bode well. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Don't feel flattered, Shiranui," she said coldly, his name on her tongue completely devoid of any of the sultry purr that was present the last time she'd said it, "I was just passing and heard you were in pain so I thought I'd come and take a look."

"How lovely," Genma said quietly, not rising to the argument she was presenting.

"So you're fucking Ino too?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Rei," Genma answered calmly.

"You should tell her to watch her tongue."

"Why would that be?"

"People'll get suspicious about the two of you; I assume her dad doesn't know?" Genma said nothing, anticipating the cruel smile that spread across her face a moment later. "She told you about our argument the other day?" _Argument?_ His expression must have conveyed his confusion as a second later she was smirking and laughing a malevolent little laugh. "She didn't? Well isn't that sweet, she doesn't want you to worry."

"Whatever Ino did is nothing to do with me, and what she doesn't tell me is no concern for either of us. Take it up with her if you're angry."

"I told her what we did and she got angry, started a fight with me in the middle of the bath house; I was just trying to explain to her what you're really like and she couldn't handle it. Do you know she's in love with you?" Rei sneered, ignoring what he'd just told her. Genma laughed.

"Rei, one person defending another does not mean that they're in love, she was just being a decent human being."

"Well then you better make sure you don't corrupt her then. She's a sweet girl, full of ideals and dreams."

"What?"

"Oh come on," Rei scoffed, flipping her golden blonde hair over her shoulder with her perfectly manicured fingers, "you're hardly sweetness and light, Genma" Rei said with a nasty twist to her mouth, "the way she was preaching about you you'd think you were."

"Rei I'm really not up for this conversation," Genma sighed, a tight feeling beginning to make itself known in his chest. Had Ino really done that? He was half inclinded to believe it, but for good reasons like the fact that they were friends and she was defending him. On the other hand he hoped no, Ino knew the standards, she wasn't a silly little girl who'd mistake good sex for love...right?

"Fine," she said flippantly, "but I'd steer clear of her if I were you, she seems more the jealous, bunny boiler type."

"Well thank you, next time I need advice on women I'll be sure to come to you first," Genma said, trying to keep the sarcasm internal. Rei snorted a laugh.

"If you ain't careful, you'll break her heart and she'll have Daddy on you in two seconds flat," Rei hissed. Genma didn't answer, he didn't want to jinx the situation as Rei had turned on her killer-high red heels and was flouncing out of the room.

He mentally added Rei to his Bitch List. _Ino's not like that_, he assured himself, _she knows the score._

His next visitor, Raidou, came just when late morning was turning into lunch time, munching on a ham salad sandwich.

"Yo," he said as he limped in on a pair of wooden crutches, holding the sandwich at a strange angle in his right hand and dropping bits of iceberg lettuce onto the floor as he struggled over to the chair. He let out a sigh of relief as he sat down heavily in the visitor's chair. "You look a little worse for wear," he said, grinning at his invalid friend.

"So do you," Genma replied, taking in the bags under Raidou's eyes and the bandage on his leg through which spots of red were leaking, "are you meant to be out of bed?" Raidou shrugged.

"What the nurses don't know can't hurt them," he smirked, taking a large bite of his sandwich. "So, which one's your medic? Daisuke's the only one who got a male," he said, laughing, "unlucky for him, I got Ayame, she's got this amazing body! Bit on the skinny side, mind, but she's still pretty fine, and did you see the night nurse?" Raidou whistled.

"Hmm," Genma contemplated what recollection he could of the 'night nurse', "I can't really remember her that well. I only just woke up this morning." Raidou shrugged.

"Pity, so who've you got?" He anticipated Raidou's reaction before he'd even told him.

"Ino," he said. Raidou immediately began laughing.

"Wow, is that a coincidence and a half or what?" he sniggered.

"You're just jealous because Ino's hotter than Ayame," Genma retorted.

"Not much hope of avoiding her then?" Raidou said, sitting back in the chair and resuming eating his food. Genma shook his head.

"I think we're okay, though, she hasn't said anything about it." Raidou shrugged.

"Maybe," he said, "or maybe she's saving up all the backlash for when you're better?" Genma shrugged.

"Maybe," Genma parroted, "Raidou...do you remember what happened?" Raidou stiffened, a grim look overtaking his face.

"We were ambushed, it was in the early morning, I was looking out over the city and you were asleep, we were in a tree, don't you remember?"

"Kind of," Genma said, furrowing his eyebrows as if he were trying to force the recollection into his head.

"Inoichi and Shikaku were captured whilst they were undercover and soon after their captors discovered our destination and came for us. They escaped though and pursued them whilst the Wave ninja came for us, fighting broke out between them; they didn't want a fight with us, they just wanted to murder us, almost did by the look of it."

"How are the others?" Genma asked, what he'd described didn't seem to bode well for Inoichi or Shikaku.

"Daisuke managed to escape before everything kicked off, Shika told him to get help, he got back to the outskirts of Konoha in about an hour-"

"An hour! Fuck, that's fast!"

"I know, good thing too or we'd all be dead, right? He was just treated for fatigue. Anyway, Shikaku's not so stable but he's awake, he was pretty lucky: got knocked down in the middle of the fight and was left for dead. I wasn't so bad, bit of blood loss is all," he gestured to his leg, "bastard's dog mauled my leg."

"Nin dogs?" Raidou nodded.

"Mangy thing it was, too. So then there's Inoichi, though I don't know much about him except he's in a bad way."

"I remember, kind of, I woke up and he was telling me we had to get to Konoha, he fell on me, I think he was cut but...there was a huge sword, it hit me in the chest, but he was above me, I think...I think it must have gone through him." The two sat quietly for a moment, both considering Inoichi's condition.

"You think he'll live?" Raidou asked tentatively.

"I don't know," Genma answered quietly, "I bloody hope so." They were quiet again, until the door opened.

"Hey, are you feeling – Raidou!?" The tone in Yuugao's voice when she spoke his friend's name made Genma wince, "What are you - !?" she stopped abruptly, glancing at Genma, "You're not allowed out of bed yet," she intoned much more quietly. The room became very still for a while.

"I was – er – just checking on Genma," Raidou said softly, looking straight at Genma as if justifying himself to Genma just as much as to Yuugao.

"Yeah, me too," Yuugao said, also looking directly at him, the same tone of justification behind her admittance.

"Okay," he said slowly, and then detecting the strangeness in the air felt compelled to add, "what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Yuugao asked quickly, "nothing happened, why would you think something happened?"

"You're both...both of you...never mind." Genma couldn't be bothered to decipher his friend's awkwardness; he was beginning to feel tired again.

"Come on, let Genma rest," Yuugao told Raidou as Genma felt his eyes close.

"Do I have to go back to my room?" Raidou whined like he was a six year old and Yuugao his mother. Yuugao sighed.

"Well I was _going_ to suggest we went to the café but you've already eaten obviously."

"I could always eat more..." his friends voiced faded out of his consciousness and in no time he was asleep.

"You're asleep? How troublesome." The next visitor came quite late on and as Genma squinted against the lighting at the clock he saw it was mid afternoon.

"Shikamaru?" he murmured, seeing the blurred outline of a dark haired, pale skinned shinobi smoking at the foot of his bed.

"Yo," he said monosyllabically.

"Yo," Genma answered, sitting up against the head board of the bed. "Erm, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Shikamaru had still not taken his eyes off Genma and as he moved around the bed and sat in the now extremely well used visitors chair he still did not shift his gaze.

"So, Ino's your medic," he stated.

"Last time I checked," Genma quipped, then seeing the displeased look the young shinobi was giving him felt it necessary to add, "yes, why?"

"That's a coincidence."

"Not really, she choose to be," Genma answered uncertainly. The dark haired ninja nodded thoughtfully.

"How old are you?" he asked next. Genma didn't know whether to laugh or not: was he serious?

"Why?" he decided on, again sounding uncertain.

"She's twenty you know," he said.

"I know."

"Are you in a relationship with her?" he asked.

"No...yes...I don't know, kind of, why?"

Shikamaru didn't answer right a way, instead he studied Genma thoroughly before speaking and only then was it to reiterate his question.

"Are you?"

"Are you cock-blocking?" Genma countered with a question of his own, his eyebrows raised and his tone amused. This must have annoyed Shikamaru because his answering tone was clipped and biting.

"No, I'm telling you to be careful with her."

"I think she can look after herself," Genma said, his guard coming up.

"Of course she can, but not when it comes to men."

"She knows what she's doing," Genma protested.

"Does she? Because I'm not sure she does. Ino likes strays, she likes trying to fix them, she gets attached easily; _don't_ break her heart."

"I don't actually think you can comment on breaking Ino's heart," Genma said audaciously, feeling an internal cringe shiver though him as soon as he'd said it.

The silence emanating from Shikamaru was the most unnerving thing Genma had experienced in a _long _while. Finally, after an alpha male stand off by way of a staring contest, the young Nara relented.

"Fine," he sighed, "now you know my thoughts on it, be very careful with her." Genma didn't reply, he was feeling threatened. Shikamaru looked out the window for a long time and took a drag on his cigarette, exhaling with a murmur of 'that was so troublesome'; when he looked back his expression was as lazy and inconvenienced as ever a Nara's expression was. "Your food's there," he said casually, motioning to the tray of foot at the end of Genma's bed with his cigarette's tip, "bet its cold now, you want something else? I'll get Ren to get you something if you want?" Genma could only think that the nicotine in the cigarette had changed his mood.

"That's okay," Genma replied, "How's your dad?" Shikamaru shrugged.

"Eh, you know, not awful, not great. He'll be okay; I actually think he's enjoying the quiet and time away from my Ma." Genma smirked.

"I bet being here suits him fine."

"Hmm," Shikamaru hummed his agreement, "anyway I got to go, I told him I'd bring him some stuff," he motioned to the black bag he'd placed by the chair as he'd sat down, "being a son is so troublesome," were his departing words.

XXXXXX

Ino came in that evening, injected something into him that made him quite drowsy and began the arduous task of unrolling his bandages to check what was going on underneath. It was only when she was just finishing up that he came to properly.

"Can I go home now?" he asked as Ino tucked the end of the bandage into the folds of the rest.

"No!" Ino exclaimed, exasperated at being asked this for the hundredth time that hour.

"But I feel fine!"

"You broke a rib!" Genma shrugged, "You punctured your lung!" he shrugged again.

"I feel fine," he repeated.

"You're shoulder is still dislocated!" Genma looked down at the offending limb and moved it around as if testing its functionality.

"Ouch." Ino shook her head.

"Stupid," she muttered under her breath, just enough for him to hear. He pouted childishly. Ino laid her hand on his shoulder and was about to push it into place when Genma shrunk back.

"Hey! I said 'ouch'!"

"It'll hurt until I put it back into place."

"Can't you just kiss it better?" Ino furrowed her brows, suddenly remembering the distraction techniques she'd learnt when working with children, of course she'd have to modify it slightly whilst dealing with Konoha's no.1 womaniser.

Ino slid her hands from his shoulder to around his neck, gently pulling his head towards hers and meeting his lips in a soft – and quite surprising on Genma's part – kiss. The surprise passed quickly, as Ino had expected, and the soft kiss became not so soft pretty quickly as Genma pressed his lips harder into hers and slipped his tongue into her mouth. Ino moaned softly, her hand playing in the short hair at the nape of Genma's neck and sifting closer to him on the bed. She felt his hands on her a moment later, the hand connected to the disjointed shoulder lightly clutching the fabric of her medic's skirt and the other skimming her arm to curl around her back and draw her even closer. He let out a grunt of pain at the movement which Ino suspected was because of his broken rib.

Ino slowly replaced the hand behind his neck with the other and slid her fingers over his strong shoulder which would have been perfect had it not been set at a strange angle. She felt the knotted muscles against her trained fingers and massaged them lightly, earning a soft sound of appreciation from Genma. In one swift movement Ino flexed her fingers, pulling his shoulder straight in one sharp snap of ball popping into socket.

"Ah!" he cried, screwing his eyes shut, his fingers tightening and pulling back from the kiss. Ino's hands were now both massaging his shoulders, right and left. Again he tried rolling his shoulder and was pleasantly surprised to find nothing but a dull ache. "That was dirty tactics," he said, opening his eyes to find a smugly smirking Ino.

"Feels better though, right?" she asked, complacently.

"You're a sadist," he muttered, "you've met Ibiki?"

"I'm a medic, not a sadist, I must be cruel to be kind."

"So, does that mean I can go home now?" Ino sighed angrily.

"Have you tried standing up?" Genma shook his head. "It will hurt a hell of a lot more than your shoulder," Ino scolded, emphasizing her point with a slight shove to his sore shoulder. "Besides, how old are you? Four?"

Genma laughed nervously, age was not a topic he wished to discuss with Ino since he'd been awake in the night, worrying about Ino hating him and had suddenly realised he didn't know whether Ino knew exactly _how_ large the age difference between them was. Would she ever kiss him like that again if she knew? Or did she already?

He stayed quiet for a while, staring in quiet contemplation at his hands as Ino ran hers over his shoulder, checking everything was in the place it should be.

"When can I go home?" he asked.

"If you don't shut up I'll break another rib and then you'll be in longer." Ino said, smiling a sickly sweet smile as she gently massaged the kinks out of Genma's newly fixed appendage. Genma raised his eyebrows.

"Your bedside manner is exquisite; you should get a pay rise."

"Yeah? You tell my boss that." Genma smiled. Again there was a strange moment, it wasn't awkward, it was like a first kiss moment when both know it'll happen but not _how_ it will happen.

"How's your dad?" Genma asked quietly, his hand coming up to touch her somewhere except it hesitated in mid-air at the last second and eventually landed on her shoulder.

"He's...he's alive," Ino said with a faint smile that wasn't quite authentic, "my mum's with him."

"You know, you can go as well if you want, I'm fine and-"

"He's not awake; I can't just sit there, do nothing and cry like she can," Ino said, ironically feeling tears in her eyes even as she said it.

"Are your sure?" Ino nodded, fiercely wiping her eyes.

"I'd prefer to be here," she said quietly, watching her fingers twist in the material of her skirt through blurred vision and then watching as Genma's hand shadowed her own and grasped her fingers gently.

"It'll be okay," he whispered.

"Will it?" Ino asked in a disbelieving sob, attempting a laugh but failing miserably, "if he dies now what will my mother do?"

"She'll be fine, because she's like you." Ino looked up at Genma, shocking him as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Oh shit," she cursed quietly, turning away from him and wiping them away, "I'm going to go," she said, not wanting Genma to witness her newest breakdown, but Genma did not let go of her hand.

"Come here," he said gently, lifting his hand and slipping it around her waist to pull her towards him. She conceded with little struggle, eventually falling against him and allowing his embrace.

Genma could feel her crying on his shoulder, her little gasps of breath warm and dry on his skin and her contrasting tears coming out cold and wet. The pain of her leaning against his chest was completely forgotten as she tried to stifle her sobs against him; he couldn't stand seeing her cry like this, and that was why when he felt resistance on his arms and she tried to pull away he only tightened them, pressing her firmly against him.

"Please stay with me," he whispered into her hair.

"I don't want you to-" she stopped, considering her words more carefully; how could she didn't want him to care for her because she couldn't trust herself? She wasn't allowed to fall in love with him. "You don't have to," she decided on.

"I know I don't have to," he said, this time letting her pull away from him, "but I _want_ to." He was smiling at her, only faintly but she could see it in his composed, brown eyes; she felt like crying all over again.

Ino closed her eyes and drew a hand over her face, trying to hide herself. _He's good with crying women_, Ino thought, recalling what Yuugao had told her the first time they'd met, _that's all this is._

"Stop hiding," Genma scolded, removing her hand, "just cry if you want, it's normal."

"I bet _you_ never cry," Ino sniffled.

"I did when my dad died," he said bringing his hand up to wipe tears off her face. It was such an intimate gesture that Ino almost drew back, but she didn't, she didn't really want to.

"Do you think he's going to die?" Genma shrugged.

"I don't remember enough about what happened to think anything about it. The waiting is worse than the outcome, though, you've dealt with relatives, you know that."

"Did...did your dad die quickly?" Ino asked, intrigued that he was talking about his family.

"Yup, one day an ANBU just turned up and told me he'd died from his wounds on the way home from a mission, I didn't even know he'd gone out on a mission."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Genma shrugged again

"It was a long time ago," he said, his hands slipping from her cheek to her shoulder, "I'm kind of over it now, we didn't really see each other much." His thumb was moving in a circular pattern, intent on trying to console her and keep her mind off her father and centred on him. It must have been working because she'd stopped crying and was staring her glassy blue eyes into his.

Ino smiled slightly and looked away, not knowing how to reply to that. She'd felt so excited that he was telling her about his father, and then she'd felt so worried that she'd felt so excited that he was telling her about his father. _I'm emotional, _Ino thought, trying to grasp at any excuse she could_, that's all these feelings are_, but she could tell from the atmosphere in the room that it wasn't just because she was emotional; she could tell this was one of those groundbreaking, romance book moments that could make or break a very delicate relationship and she had no idea what to do. It was a good job then that Genma knew exactly how to proceed.

After watching her and realising she was about to clam up and ask to leave again he acted quickly, turning her head lightly back to align with his and kissing her before she could start protesting.

Ino was so glad he'd done this and hadn't started talking about himself or consoling her again. The physical was easy between them, the emotional was not, and so she twisted her arms around him, feeling herself being enveloped in him and enjoying the pressure and warmth of his upper body against hers.

Their tongues mingled into one another, both adventuring in the other's mouth and creating a pleasant friction as they rubbed across each other that soon had breathy little moans exchanging from Ino's mouth into Genma's.

Genma's hand slid from her jaw to her hair, feeling the warm softness of some of the blonde strands and the cool dampness of others, still drying from the shower she'd taken in the room behind the break room. She moulded into him, her curves pressing against his chest in a mixture of a slight aching pain from the pressure on his healing wound and the pleasurable promise of the impression of a female body.

Ino felt Genma's hands move again, this time travelling south and following the outline of her breasts, an almost incoherent groan sliding into her mouth as he finally made contact with the fullness of her breast.

As she shifted forward into him, sliding a knee in between his parted thighs to get a better position on the bed she felt something very hard and very insistent pressing against her. A warning bell went off in her mind; he was a patient, and what's more there was nothing she could do with _that_ part of him whilst she was his medic. It was just unprofessional.

"Woah, wait," Ino said, pulling back and secretly enjoying the sight of the clearly very aroused jounin.

"Wait? Why?" he panted.

"Well if we keep going we'll end up..." she didn't know how to put it, "well...you know," she said gesturing to the conspicuous bulge under where her leg had been resting moments ago.

"I don't see a problem with that," Genma said, smirking mischievously, "I won't mind." Ino tutted.

"You won't, they will, I'll get fired if we're caught," she said settling back on her bent leg.

"So you're going to leave me? Like this?"

"Nothing much else I can do."

"You're such a cock-tease!"

"No I'm responsible, I need my job, you know. There's not much call for an average chunnin medic in other fields."

"A head chunnin medic," Genma reminded, "they won't just let you go after something so small and insignificant."

"Genma having sex with a patient at all is bad, having sex with an existing patient whilst he's still healing is worse, having sex with them in the hospital is a sackable offence but having sex in a _hospital bed_ with an injured patient who's still undergoing medical treatment is terrible!"

"But it'll make me feel better, orgasms release happy chemicals, right?" Ino laughed.

"Yeah, but so does chocolate; I'm sure the hospital would much rather I give you chocolate than sex."

"The hospital is no fun," Genma pouted, smoothing down her hair with his palm.

"I should let you sleep," Ino said.

"Are you going home?" Genma asked.

"No, I'll probably just sleep in the break room."

"Is there a bed?"

"No, just a chair."

"Sleep here!"

"What?"

"Sleep here."

"Here? No, I can't!"

"Why?"

"Because!"

"But I'll get cold!" Ino rolled her eyes, "please."

"What if someone comes in?"

"Like who?"

"Like...what if Asuma-sensei comes to visit you?" Genma snorted.

"He won't."

"He might!" By this time Genma had pulled Ino so close that she was pressed against him again.

"Well if he does then we'll say you were healing me and you fell onto me and fell asleep." Ino laughed.

"Genma, I've really got to go."

XXXXXX

Ino was sad to leave Genma; when she was with him the grey corridors of the hospital and the dark, miserable aura that surrounded the relative's waiting room faded from existence. It was her and it was Genma, and just slipping into the warm bed with him would have been the easiest, most delicious and most unprofessional thing she'd ever done in her life.

She decided at last it was time to go and see her dad; she'd put it off because she didn't know what she'd find but after talking to Sakura that afternoon she felt she should go, in the worst case scenario it may be the last time she'd ever see him, if he got better then seeing him would do no harm.

As soon as she stepped foot in the operating theatre he was kept in for ease of access to all the equipment needed to re-stabilise him the depression pressed down on her like a physical presence. She took a deep breath and crept further into the room, seeing her mother with her head slumped on her husband's immobile arm and her fingers locked tightly with his slack ones.

The sight in itself was heart-breaking, her mother looked so small and fragile and her father looked so...so awful.

Ino almost recoiled when she saw her father; his blonde hair was matted with blood and dirt and he was shirtless and bandage-less and her medic training told her that was because a wound _that_ size needed to be exposed to the air so there was absolutely no chance of any friction on it. No wonder Sakura _and_ Tsunade were working on him: he was almost cleaved in half! If Ino had looked any longer than she had before she turned away in horror she felt sure she would have seen his internal organs working, exposed under the severity of the wound.

His face was puffed up on one side, his eye purple and bloated, he had cuts all the way down his left arm, the hand sticking out at the wrong angle and his right arms was bandaged all the way down to where her mother's fingers clutched his hand.

Ino backed out the room, her heart breaking in her chest and tears pricking in her eyes. After she got out of the operating theatre she ran, as fast as she could.

XXXXXX

Genma was lying down and getting comfortable when the door opened and Ino flew in, her eyes red, her lip trembling and her breathing heavy.

"Shit," Genma cursed quietly, "what happened?" Ino didn't answer she just shuffled over to his bedside. He moved over instinctively as she approached and sure enough she slid in beside him.

"He's really bad," she whispered against his stomach and immediately felt herself be encased in his reassuring arms, she closed her eyes feeling shaking tears overcome her. Genma kissed her forehead.

"I'm so sorry, Ino," he murmured.

"I just want to go to sleep," Ino sobbed quietly, pressing her face into Genma's bandages so he couldn't see her. Genma moved the covers over her and settled back, shifting himself and Ino into a more comfortable position so she was half lying on him. He felt her leg move, rearranging so her lower leg rested lightly in between his own.

The way her hands clutched at the bandages she'd applied was shattering to Genma; she grasped at him like he was the only thing that grounded her to earth.

Genma sighed deeply, when she was like this, so close to him and settled peacefully in his arms what Rei had told him was completely inconsequential; he didn't care if she was jealous or pushing their relationship, he only cared that she was okay.

He glanced at Ino; her eyes were closed and her breaths were coming out heavily and sleepily already. She looked so beautiful, even with streaked, pink cheeks and a small pool of drool on his bandage under her parted lips; it made Genma smile. _At least she's peaceful now_, he thought, closing his own eyes and embracing the warmth and comfort from the body tangled with his.

* * *

Ahhhhwww, I tried to make it mushy, I hope it was mushy!

Review if you are so inclined! xx.


	10. Maintenance

Out late! Oh no! I hope this one's okay because I struggled to get it done!

That you sooooooo much to the reviews! They make me all warm and tingly inside :D

**Warning: language and maybe a little sexual stuff**

enjoy x.

* * *

Waking that morning wasn't fun for Genma. For one, he had fallen asleep with his arms around Ino, which was nice enough, but one had got stuck under her body sometime during the night and it was now complaining loudly to him by the means of the most excruciating case of pins and needles.

Next, he'd awoken to the wary feeling of eyes watching him, watching them _both_ and as he lay there, effyes tight shut, feeling the paranoia created by the two dark orbs scrutinizing him, an unpleasant and highly irrational voice in his head told him it was bound to be Asuma, or Inoichi, or Ino's mother.

The next problem wasn't so immediately detectable but equally wasn't so immediately surprising considering the over-sexed jounin had been remarkably under-sexed lately. Plus, if snuggling up next to a five foot eight column of lean, curvaceous woman didn't have that effect on him he'd be worried, and so he lay obediently still; hoping to god said five foot eight column of lean, curvaceous woman wasn't awake or wouldn't notice/mind his seven inch column of hard, erect masculinity directly under her thigh, strewn across his stomach and tactfully avoiding any of his sensitive, injured skin.

It really was the definition of un-fun.

"So...this is modern medicine, is it?" The voice was cynical and sharp but thankfully familiar, and opening his eyes to Yuugao's dark irises and purple hair was a massive relief.

"We're only cuddling," Genma answered just as contemptuously, "see? All clothes still in tact." He stuck his foot out the bed and gestured to the loose fitting pyjama-trousers which only came in a homogeneous, boring blue colour.

"There's a lot of things _you_ can do to a girl while she's still got her clothes on," she said, her voice softer this time and with a hint of teasing, "you know that." Genma grinned.

"That was a compliment, I think?" Yuugao just smiled enigmatically at him and Genma decided to take it as a compliment anyways.

"I was just going to warn you that I was talking to Kurenai this morning and she said Rei's on the warpath."

"Yeah? She came to see me yesterday; wasn't too pleased with Ino," Genma said quietly, glancing down at the woman herself to find she was fast asleep and it didn't look like that status would change anytime soon.

"She only stuck up for you, or so Kurenai says, and she has no reason to lie for Ino; she was simply making the valid point that any sane woman would be able to resist you sweet talking them into a...cupboard, was it?" she asked hiding infuriation behind cynicism, "Or bed," she added lightly, pointing a particularly ironic eye over Ino's cuddled up and still sound asleep form, resting on top of the brown haired shinobi, which Genma ignored.

"I didn't make her! I've never forced anyone, Rei propositioned _me_, she didn't need to get in a tizzy about it; no one would blame her for wanting some one on one with me." Yuugao didn't give him the pleasure of the reaction he was seeking and so his cocky smirk faded pretty quickly. "She didn't have to fight with Ino, though."

Yuugao just shrugged calmly, "She's got a reputation to uphold, if you went around mouthing off about her having annexed you and shagged you in a cupboard she'd be called a slag by the rumour mill; this way she's the innocent victim and you're the big bad wolf, see?"

"I see," Genma said darkly, "still, she didn't _have_ to get into a fight with Ino," he repeated. Yuugao shrugged again.

"Ino just needs to get used to the fact that you enjoy being the big bad wolf; you've built a whole persona off the back of it."

"You're psycho-analysing me again." Genma warned.

"That's because you're so transparent," Yuugao grinned at his irritated expression and then the two stayed silent as Ino stirred against Genma. "Well, since you're in _such_ good hands I'll leave you then."

"If you would," Genma retorted. Yuugao grinned once more before she left and just couldn't resist one last jibe before she exited.

"Make sure she actually does heal you," she said sweetly, laughing wickedly at Genma's scowl.

After she'd gone Genma realised her visit had been a helpful distraction; he wasn't thinking of how good Ino felt against him anymore, he wasn't thinking about how much better being _really _close to her would be, instead he was wondering about Rei. He could just imagine her lying to him and as Yuugao had said Kurenai had no reason to lie about what she'd witnessed. He felt a surge of affection for Ino, followed by a surge of desire as when he looked down to smile benevolently at her sleepy face he was instead confronted by a beautifully graphic display of almost wholly visible, round breasts from where her shirt had twisted and come undone during the night; it was quite a spectacle and the blood that had since rejoined circulation of his body shifted south again, between his thighs.

He stirred uncomfortably, achieving sensation back to his arm as he moved it up to hug her over her shoulder, accidentally bumping against Ino's own thigh. He groaned internally; how long would it be before she woke up and tore off his lecherous unmentionables? She may not be angry, he considered, and there was an _off_ chance she'd be flattered...or not.

Ino moved against him, _into_ him, shifting _towards_ him and he cringed as she brushed passed him again. She hummed against his shoulder and her fingers traced a line across his stomach to cuddle his bandaged skin, sending ripples of sensation down his spine. Ino's eyes opened slightly, her pupils so large and sleepy that Genma could hardly see her blue irises.

"You awake?" he asked softly, trying to reposition himself away from her.

"Hmm," she murmured sleepily, moving with him, her mouth forming a frown as he removed some of his body heat from her.

"Erm – Ino, could you just – you...you're on my – "

"Don't worry, I'm pretending that I can't feel it," Ino muttered drowsily. Genma grinned, chancing being scolded and moving down to kiss her. She accepted greedily, taking his tongue into her mouth and sucking on it gently, reacting to the feel of his hands sliding into her tangled hair by tightening her grip on his bandages. Genma let out a small hiss of pain when she slid up his body to get a better angle and it seemed to awaken her to the real situation.

"Oh shit, sorry I forgot, are you okay?" she said as she scrambled to get off his chest. Genma's only answer was to pull her down again and resume the kiss until she remembered how tired she was and flopped back onto his shoulder, snuggling into him.

"That didn't help," Genma sighed, relaxing back with a smug smile on his face. Again Ino just 'hmm'-ed a noncommittal answer into his shoulder and apparently went back to sleep. "Do you think I could go home today?" Genma asked.

"I'll have to check you over first," she murmured.

"_All_ over?" Genma whispered into the crown of Ino's blonde head.

"Not there," she sighed tiredly, lifting Genma's wondering hand off her rear and further up her back.

"You're no fun this morning," Genma sighed back, closing his eyes in complete relaxation and feeling a wry smile form against his shoulder.

As Genma lay there thinking about the most unsexiest things he could think of his mind settled on Inoichi's condition; the only thing more unsexy to Genma than a six foot tall, blond, heterosexual shinobi was a six foot tall, blond, heterosexual shinobi whose innards had all but been ripped out. Really Ino was holding up remarkably well for the situation she was in, though Genma supposed she was probably keeping it all inside, because that was the shinobi way, and although Ino was still young and still fairly expressive in her emotions he had a feeling she was struggling with herself. Besides, her mother didn't seem to be much help, not that Genma blamed her for agonizing over her husband, and neither did Shikamaru as he was too caught up in the sand girl whose name had been completely wiped from his head. He didn't know how he knew that Shikamaru wasn't being a great help to Ino, he didn't know why he'd think Shikamaru was canoodling with the sand kunoichi but he did; maybe he was just imaging what might make Ino so down? Or maybe he'd dreamt it? Either way he decided to check whether Ino wanted an emotional outlet at all, _because I'm nice like that_, he justified.

"So, can I ask if you're okay?" he asked tentatively, hoping she didn't think he was being rude or intrusive by asking it.

"What?" she murmured with sleepy confusion.

"Can I ask if you're okay? Or is it one of those things you don't want to talk about? Like Shikamaru?" Ino's eyes opened. She stared hard at the wall before answering, knowing if she let him ask it there was a possibility she'd end up crying again and Genma would think she was a big _girl_, also she'd sworn to herself to be physical with Genma, not emotional, but then there was that other feeling that if she didn't share with someone she may just self implode, plus she actually wanted to tell him, wanted him to care and speak meaningless soothing words to her.

"No, you can ask," she answered after a long while.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I guess, Sakura said they were healing the superficial damage today so I might go back and see him later on."

"How bad is he?"

"He looks half-dead, but Sakura says he's stable so I guess we'll just have to wait until he wakes up."

"I'm sure they're doing everything for him," Genma intoned soothingly. Ino nodded, turning her face downwards to escape Genma's scrutiny.

"But I still feel like I should be there, I want to...I don't know what I want to do! Just _something_ at least!" She thumped her fist on the white mattress to emphasize her frustration, "I should be there now," she murmured quietly, "I shouldn't be here," but if anything her hold on him tightened and Genma could feel her hands curling in the material of his bandages.

"Let Tsunade and Sakura handle him," Genma said quietly, "they've done well for him this far."

"It's just he – and my mother she's just – and I'm here – " her voice trembled. Ino squeezed her eyes tight shut. "Can we talk about something else," she croaked, her voice small and frail. His arm tightened around her purely on reflex.

"Ino if you were there you'd just get upset and distress your mother," Genma said softly, "don't feel guilty." She let out a sob onto his chest. _Change the subject,_ he thought, scanning the surroundings for something to discuss, his mind ran a blank and he suddenly realised that for someone he was so intimate with he didn't really know Ino at all. He could talk about sex or make some sort of sexual advance but that was about all he was good for to Ino, and it troubled him. A lot.

Now it wasn't that he wanted a serious relationship with her because that was the _furthest_ thing from his mind, he had even told himself he'd have to discuss the Rei situation with her to check she understood their relationship. It was just that he would like to be able to comfort her when she was like this and not be left with a crying girl not knowing what to say; he hated being unprepared, why else would he carry condoms around in his jounin vest? However Ino obviously didn't want him interfering with her emotional life because twice now she'd stopped him from pursuing a solution to her emotional conundrums. She would be his friend but only in the loosest and strangest sense of the word: they'd have sex, they'd banter back and forth, they'd never touch on the deeper things in life, they'd never discuss how odd their relationship was. They were both extremely intimate and extremely distant and in his forty years of life and twenty seven years of sex life he'd never once had a relationship like that, and oddly it didn't scare him one bit.

The weight of her body on him felt good, and even though she was distressed the sound of her soft sniffles being muffled by _his_ chest sounded good too, that he was able to comfort her was amazing but it didn't mean he was going to go out of the room and feel guilty for sleeping with other women, he knew he would do it and he knew he wouldn't feel guilty. And that was the strangest part of their 'friendship'.

"Oh shit," Ino murmured suddenly, sitting up on her knees so the blanket fell off them both.

"What?"

"I was meant to meet someone yesterday night," she said, wiping tears off her red cheeks.

"Meet someone?" Genma asked, realising too late that the frown on his face was a little too pronounced, "Who?"

"Just this guy; I said I'd meet him yesterday, damn! He was pretty," she pouted, averting her eyes to his chest and fiddling with where the tucked in end of his chest binding had come untucked.

Genma really tried to stop himself from asking the question he did next, but he _really_ couldn't; he wanted to feel better than Ino's 'just this guy', he wanted to be the 'just this guy' who had Ino fidgeting coyly and cursing because she had missed her chance with him...but he didn't actually want her to miss her chance with him.

"Why didn't you go?" he asked, knowing her answer before she said it.

"I couldn't just leave yo... my patient," she corrected herself, missing the self-satisfied smile on the brown haired shinobi's face "and I'd feel guilty going out what with my dad being like he is, and my Mum."

"So you stayed for me?" Genma asked, grinning, "You think I'm better than him?"

"Shut up," she mumbled, a loose butterfly breaking free and stirring up her insides into pleasurable nervousness, _he's jealous_. "You don't have to be jealous," she smirked.

"I'm not jealous!" he exclaimed, sliding his hands down her sides, "I just think that he's not worthy of you." Ino laughed.

"Well then you're certainly not," she answered smiling a Cheshire cat smile.

"Am," he mumbled, pulling her down against him, delighting in the physical contact.

"Stop it," Ino said, pushing back against him and standing up, "you're a very sick man and you need your rest."

"I rested all night," he said petulantly but Ino just shrugged.

"If you rest now you might be able to go home later," she told him, straightening her uniform.

"At last," Genma mumbled. "Hey, wait, where you going?"

"Home," Ino said, shrugging on her coat that was held on a hook by the door, "I need to change, I'm not actually meant to be working today you know."

"I thought you said you'd discharge me today?" Genma asked, his badly-done-to-puppy eyes firmly fixed in place.

"I said _maybe_, and I'll be back later, about an hour or so."

"Alright," he said uncertainly. Ino halted when she opened the door and at the last moment turned back, fidgeting bashfully with the button on her coat pocket.

"Thanks, Genma for…being nice," she said quietly, her eyes watching her hands moving. It reminded Genma of that first 'morning after the night before' they'd had and she'd thanked him just as demurely.

"Anytime you want to hop into bed with me, feel free," he said, smirking.

"Right," she murmured distantly before turning to go again.

"Are you going to find him?" Genma asked suddenly. Ino looked at him.

"Yes, probably," she answered. The question had created a whole space of tension in the air between them, both were uncomfortable with what the other would say, with what _they_ would say. "Why?"

"Just...just don't forget I'm here," he told her, "okay?" Ino nodded slowly and opened her mouth to say something else but must have thought better of it as she quickly exited a moment later. Genma wondered vaguely why it mattered to him that she was going out of the room and not feeling guilty for sleeping with other men, it was what he's told himself he'd do, wasn't it? And he had no claim over Ino. _It would be nice to influence her choice in men though_, he decided and he wouldn't mind it if the man she chose to sleep with had brown hair and brown eyes and looked vaguely like him, and perhaps the man might have a senbon fetish? It didn't _have_ to be him, just someone like him, _or...or it could just be me_, he supposed.

XXXXXX

Cuddling up to Genma all night was a _bad_ idea, Ino decided. Feeling the reassuring sturdiness of his body against hers when she awoke was a bad idea, she decided. Telling him he could enquire after her well-being was a bad idea, she decided. Genma was just a bad idea, the whole situation was nothing but a car crash waiting to happen and she could do absolutely nothing to stop it playing out in front of her eyes. _I'm falling in love with Shiranui Genma_, she finally admitted as she crossed the street to arrive at the steps of her apartment building,_ damn it!_

She knew she got attached to people but, _really_, a week, where they been together just over half of the days in that week, had to be a world record.

_Stupid, stupid Ino!_ she cursed as she began to climb the stairs, _stupid, stupid, stupid!_, she punctuate her footfalls with her curses. _I am a player, I am! I'm not going to let him do this to me, this won't happen to me again!_

She was so engrossed with thoughts of Genma and how stupid he was and how stupid _she_ was that she very almost tripped over the bundle of person huddled up on her doorstep. She jumped back and almost shrieked in shock.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed as her brain finally processed the man before her. He had dark hair and Ino knew if he opened his eyes they'd be an exquisite shade of brown. He had no shoes on and no hitai-ate but he did have an empty bottle of vodka tilted at an angle in his slack fingers. "Kaito?" Ino breathed, hardly believing her eyes, "what the fuck are you doing here?" she murmured her foot venturing out to nudge his hand to still if he were still living; from the look of him she actually had doubts.

One brown eye cracked open, just enough so she could see a sliver of dilated, inky pupil; he blinked, the other eye opened and he stared around himself with bewildered, unseeing eyes. When recollection came, however, it seemed to hit him like a slap in the face.

"Oh fuck," he murmured, looking around hazily, and then, brown eyes settling on Ino and widening considerably, hands scrambling to pull him upright he repeated himself much more vehemently: "oh fuck!"

"Er – when you said you'd come and get me, I though you were just joking," Ino said trying to hide her amusement.

"I didn't! – I mean it was – I was just – I was _very_ drunk! Ouch, fuck," he cursed again, bringing a hand to his thumping head. Ino raised her eyebrows.

"What are you doing here?" she said slowly, trying to make him understand her since he looked still like he was pretty out of it.

Kaito, dug his palms into his eyes and groaned. "Ouch," she heard him mumble. When he finally looked up his bleary eyes were red from the rubbing. "Ino, I'm so sorry," he said hoarsely, "it...it was a good idea last night..." Ino couldn't help the smile from sneaking across her face.

"You wanted to see me that much?"

"I'm so sorry, I'll – er – I'll go." He got up and fell down again, falling heavily and closing his eyes tight as his head span. "I think I'm going to be sick," he said through the muffling of his hand which he'd clapped over his mouth.

Ino stepped carefully over him and unlocked her front door.

"Look, just wait here," she sighed, hurrying into her house to find some sort of sick bag and readying a large glass of water. When she arrived back on her doorstep she found he'd already managed to get up right and was attempting to co-ordinate himself enough to move down the steps. "Woah, careful," Ino exclaimed as he tripped over his feet and almost ended his life right there on her front steps.

It wasn't too difficult to get him into her house. She thrust the old bowl she'd found at him in case he decided he really would be sick this time and put a hand to his forehead, with her chakra she could still feel the effects of the alcohol working on his brain and began to work it out of his system quickly, _he is not being sick in my house!_

"Ino you don't have to," he murmured sleepily, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Shh, just relax back," she told him, pushing on his shoulders to make him sit back, again he relented with no resistance.

By the time Ino had got him to a state that he _could_ have got up and gone home if he wanted – barely – he was breathing gently in a deep, deep sleep.

"I hate to say this but this really is troublesome," Ino sighed out loud, moving her unexpected patient so that he lay on her couch. She'd promised Genma she'd be back and that was over an hour ago. She studied Kaito uncertainly, wondering if her house would still be all there if she left him in it whilst she went to see to Genma, though logically an ANBU captain earned a hell of a lot more than a medically skilled chuunin and Ino suspected that he would have enough money to buy anything in her humble little home three times over, so after changing quickly in her bedroom she scribbled her patient a note entitling him to use the shower and what ever else he wanted if he woke up before she got back, then left the ANBU, passed out on her couch and full of her chakra, to go and pump more chakra into another ANBU who was in an equally bad state.

XXXXXX

"Don't worry," the Hokage said, using Sakura's exact words, "it's not bad news...well...not _that_ bad anyway, I just wanted to talk to you about your mother."

"My mother?" Even though Tsunade had said it wasn't bad news from the moment she had asked for a word with her in private as she made her way to see Genma Ino had known something was off.

"Yes, she's worried, obviously, it's only natural for her to be reacting like this but she's not taking care of herself, I don't want to make two patients out of one," Tsunade said practically as usual, "she isn't eating, at all, would you talk to her."

"I will but I don't think she'll listen," Ino said, "I just walked passed her in the corridor and I don't think she recognised me," Ino said.

"She's grieving already and he's not even dead yet! I've _told_ her he isn't going anywhere," she exclaimed, "and he isn't Ino," she added in a much softer tone, suddenly remembering it was Yamanaka Ino she was talking to.

"I know, Sakura told me," Ino replied quietly, "I can't go and see him," she admitted, "I tried yesterday and...it wasn't good, but she sits with him all the time; we're not reacting the same but I'll try to make her see sense."

"It's all I ask," Tsunade declared, "I thought you were off today," she said as Ino turned to leave.

"Erm – well I am but I promised I'd see my patient."

"Genma's not causing you trouble is he?" Tsunade sighed, "I know how he can be."

"No, he's fine," Ino said quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said and she could hear the lie in her own voice; in truth he was causing her no end of emotional turmoil.

"Just I heard some _funny_ things from last night's nurse," Tsunade said, thankfully wit a great big smirk on her face and not a sharp edge to her voice.

"I – er – have to go," and she ducked out of the room before the knowing blonde could voice what the annoying smirk on her face was silently saying.

Well that really had put a downer on the proceedings; having a scheduled argument with her mother over food was not something she wanted to do that afternoon and so to make sure the conversation did _not_ stray that way with Genma she came armed with news of Kaito instead.

"You'll never guess who was sitting on my doorstep when I got back." Ino announced as she entered the room.

"Nope, I don't think I will," Genma said, more happy than ever that she was back to break the monotony of cheery nurses and plain white, sterilised things: walls, curtains, plates, food, everything.

"Kaito."

"Who?"

"That guy I was telling you about; apparently he'd got drunk thought it a good idea to check on where I was." _You were in bed with me, ha!_ Genma knew he was being childish, but he didn't care, the thought of _Kaito _and Ino wasn't a happy one.

"I hope you told him to fuck off," he said with more fervour that was necessary.

"No actually, he's asleep on my couch right this moment," Ino said cheerfully, sitting down in the relatives chair by the side of the bed.

"What?!"

"Yeah, he was still drunk and hung over so I fixed him up a bit and left him to sleep." _Oh god_, Genma thought_, Shikmaru was being literal, she really does like strays._

"Well aren't you a do-gooder," he muttered grumpily earning a strange look from Ino.

"I was just being nice," she said shortly, "here, I got you something that might help you get home soon."

"What the hell is that?" Genma asked, eyeing the multicoloured pill she'd just produced with distaste. He was suddenly and _inexplicably _feeling moody.

"It's like a soldier pill," Ino tired to explain, "only it works over a long period of time and the after affects aren't as bad.

"It looks like a sweet," Genma said grumpily.

"What's wrong with that?" Ino asked, exasperated, but also kind of relieved, that he was acting so _annoyingly_.

"It's like what little _girls_ eat!" he told her.

"Genma if you eat it you may be able to get up and if you convince the nurse you're okay she'll discharge you and you can be a macho ninja again." Genma laughed.

"Alright, but only if I can be a macho ninja again." Ino grinned.

"Take the pill, stupid," she said, shoving the pill and glass of water into his hands. He did as she said obediently.

"Great I took it and now I feel fine, can I go now?"

"It takes twenty minutes to kick in." Genma sighed.

"Fine, we'll just have to do something that involves lying down for about twenty minutes...can you think of anything, Ino?"

"Nothing," Ino said, meeting his gaze with level, unwavering eyes, "I can think of nothing."

"Then you're not thinking hard enough," Genma grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest grouchily.

"You're so moody," Ino laughed, getting him to sit up then unwinding his bandages.

"I'm not moody," he said as he watched Ino work, "I'm bored out of my brain."

Once he was free of his bindings she felt his skin with cool hands and Genma revelled in the feeling of cool air on his skin and the pleasant friction of someone else's flesh sliding against his. Strangely though it set off a thought inside his head that he'd been meaning to ask Ino about

"Ino," Genma said carefully, "did you...did you have a – er – _conversation_ with Rei?"

"Oh god, yeah I did!" Genma raised his eyebrows at the venom in her tone, "It wasn't a fucking conversation though, she's such a little bitch! I suppose she came and told you about it before I could mention it to make me look bad?" It wasn't a question, she was in full ranting flow, "She came into the bath house all pissed off and she told us you hijacked her and_ made_ her shag you in a cupboard!" Ino said with indignation, "which is fair enough but seriously if she didn't want you she didn't _have _to have you right? You didn't force her, right?" She paused to collect his affirmative nod, he hadn't forced her, but again it didn't seem like a question which sort of touched him that she had so much faith in him even though she knew so little about him. "I mean I'm sorry, but what exactly did she think she was getting from you? A life time commitment," she ranted, yanking his bandages back tightly over his chest.

"Ouch,"

"She's heard the rumours about you same as I have, we've even sat together whilst Anko gave us them in graphic detail," Genma immediately tried to recall what exactly he'd done with Anko in the past, "She just _really_ made me mad! She knew what she was in for when you started on her – "

"She propositioned me," Genma interrupted.

"Well that doesn't make it any better!" Ino fumed, "So she's a big fat liar as well! She just really pissed me off! I mean if I didn't want to sleep with you I wouldn't! It's not like you forced her!"

"Okay, Ino, calm down, I'm sorry I asked."

"Ugh, she's such a bitch," Ino said, pinning the end of the bandage with such ferocity that Genma was worried she'd impale him. Finally she leant back and admired her work, "why?" she asked, "what did she say to you happened?"

Genma didn't know what to say. He could say that Rei said that Ino was in love with him, he could say that she said that Ino would just cause him problems, he could say that if what Rei said was true then he didn't feel comfortable with her any more, but he could also say that Rei was a liar and a sore looser.

"She said – er – she said a lot of nasty things, about both of us," he said quickly.

"I'm not surprised," she said absently, too busy fussing with medicines at the side of Genma's bed to notice the note of unease in his voice, "all I did was tell her she was _ridiculous!_ And for some reason she just didn't like it," Ino said, sitting back down on the bed, "Right, you're all done" she looked up to find Genma staring at her, "...what?"

"Nothing...just, you stuck up for me, it was a nice thing to do." Ino nodded slowly.

"I guess it was," she murmured, "...did you not expect me to?" she asked as he _still _hadn't stopped staring and it was unnerving her.

"I don't really know," he said.

"Would you do the same for me?" she asked hopefully.

Would he? Would he cause a scene in the bath house all because the girl he sometimes slept with was being bad-mouthed? He'd really like to say he would but he suspected he wouldn't. However when he imagined a situation where _Ino_ was being bad-mouthed he found himself leaning more towards yes, he would kick up a fuss because Ino was a lovely girl and she didn't deserve _anyone_ talking bad about her.

"Yeah, I suppose I would," he said. Ino smiled and saying it was worth it for that smile, it had been absent a lot since he and her father had been dragged unconscious through the doors of the hospital by field medics.

"Good," she said, looking down and fiddling with her hands and as much as Genma didn't want it the room began to fill with that familiar 'something's weird about our relationship' tension. Ino coughed, "well I have to go and persuade my mother to eat something," she said and Genma was glad because it was possibly the most unsexy and unromantic thing she ever could have said, "so...I'll see you around," she stood up, "I'll tell the nurse to check on you as soon as possible, I don't think there'll be any problem with her letting you go home but just rest for a few days, no missions, no training, no...well _you_ know," Genma smiled at her innocence.

"Fine, no _you_ know," he said resignedly, "but only if you come around and give me a sponge bath, you still haven't given me one of those." Ino laughed.

"You're harassing the medical staff," Ino mock-warned, "you'll get scolded by the Hokage." Genma shrugged.

"Ino, I haven't had sex in five days; that actually sounds kind of appealing." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Five days is _nothing_," she said shaking her head, "maybe sex will be better after you have a break from it? Absence makes to heart grow fonder and all that." Genma deadpanned.

"No, just no."

"Suit yourself," Ino said standing up.

"I hope he gets better," Genma said quietly, knowing she'd know who 'he' was.

"Yeah, me too," Ino murmured, not turning or looking at Genma, it was a fair comment, he was just wishing his team mate well but it was personal to her and she was on project 'stop-falling-in-love-with-Genma', and so far today it was going terribly. "See you around," she mumbled quietly as she left his room, understandably not looking forward to the argument she was about to have with her mother.

For once, Ino actually felt quite sad to see a patient get better because as soon as Genma was not her number one priority that title would have to switch to her father and that was not something she was looking forward to. Ino had once been told when she was in training that the longer the shinobi staying unconscious for, the less likely it would be that they woke up and after three days of unconsciousness it wasn't looking good for her father.

XXXXXX

After a nightmare conversation with her mother Ino had finally relented and gone home, resolved upon coming back and trying again another day. When she got home her bathroom door was ajar with steam issuing from it but the shower wasn't on any more.

She immediately turned into the kitchen to make herself some tea which she'd perhaps make Irish if she had any alcohol lying around.

She heard Kaito come up behind her and hover wordlessly near the fridge.

"Feeling better?"

"Oh god, what happened to me?" he asked, running a hand through his shower-dampened hair.

"I don't know," Ino laughed as she handed him a glass of water and two asprin, "but you don't look as bad as you did."

"No, I don't feel as bad as I was," he replied, smiling shyly. Ino turned back to making her tea and after a while of silence Kaito finally spoke, "so, I guess I put you off me for life then?" he asked. Ino laughed.

"No, I find men passed out on my doorstep very sexy actually," she glanced over her shoulder at him to find him studying her kitchen floor, his cheeks slightly pinker than usual.

"Thanks Ino," he said quietly and it reminded her of how she'd said the very same words to Genma, twice now.

"Look, it's fine," she said, turning back around to face him.

"No," he said, taking a step towards her, "you didn't have to do all this for me, you could have just left me," he lifted a hand and gently, almost nervously brushed his thumb against her cheek, "thank you," he said again.

"It's fine," she said again, noticing the atmosphere around them change and sure enough seconds later he moved in to kiss her. His nervousness vanished and Ino had a sneaking suspicion it had never been there in the first place.

Kissing him was fine, feeling his hands slide down her arms was fine, feeling them casually slip to and linger on her ass was okay, but it was when he pressed closer to her and his fingertips slithered up her back and under her bra strap that it began to _not_ be okay.

Firstly was the persistent nag at the back of her brain that told her when her father was lying unconscious and Genma was lying in a hospital bed she shouldn't be out gallivanting with ANBU captains. Secondly, his hands were trying to undo her bra which would inevitably evolve into sex, and she just wasn't in the mood for a meaningless encounter at the moment, she wanted emotion; it was strange then that all she wanted to do was go back to the hospital, into her patient's room and run chakra through him or help him to walk or just sit and talk to him; perhaps it wasn't so strange. She didn't care if it was or wasn't because her third reason was that after the stressful argument with her mother she just wasn't quite feeling like the sexy seductress and would have preferred hot chocolate and bed. She didn't want to have sex with Kaito, she didn't want him to touch her anymore, not _now_ anyway.

"Kaito..." Ino murmured as he moved his head to slant his mouth over hers, but if anything the breathy murmur of his name spurred him on, which really should have been expected.

A deep moan vibrated into Ino's mouth from his, it was one of the most gorgeous sounds she'd ever heard, but still she felt guilty; _I wonder what Genma's doing now_, she wondered idly, _maybe he's asleep? Maybe he misses me? Maybe he's been discharged? Maybe he...woah...wait! Stop, stop!_

Ino grabbed his hand just before it could slip into her underwear; that was _way_ too forward.

"Wait, stop," she exclaimed, trying to struggle out of his firm grip.

"Huh?"

He moved his hand but didn't remove it.

"Just...just," she didn't know what to tell him, she just didn't like the situation; she wasn't willing to give _that_ at the moment.

"Just...what, baby?" he murmured.

"I..._we_ have to stop," she said, not liking the way he was _not_ stopping and was in fact running hands up her spine, she shivered but it was anything but pleasurable, she felt instead vulnerable and cornered like she had when he'd asked her out. She just wasn't comfortable with him.

"You need to relax," he rasped against her cheek, trailing tiny, wet kisses to her ear.

"No, I don't," she uttered dryly, "_Please_ stop," Ino said firmly, shoving at his hand again. He was too close, _way_ too close and she was beginning to not like it.

"What? What's wrong?" he murmured, bringing her face around with his hand and grasping control of her mouth with his own forceful kiss.

She was losing control and it was horrible. Panic rose like a tidal wave inside her and she clenched her fist around Kaito's poised wrist to stop the emotional tsunami from crashing down on her. She pushed at him.

"What's wrong baby?" he murmured, making the situation ten times worse with his pet name again, _I'm not a fucking baby!_

"Stop," Ino intoned on an in breath, trying to gasp in air as her body reacted to her frenzy instinctively. "Stop," she said, her chakra highway calling on its instinctive reserves to stamp out the threat so that when she pushed him again it came with the force of a shinobi and a sting like an electric shock. "Just...just stop," Ino repeated, hating the unsteady beat of her heart in her chest and her breathing in the air.

"Hey, alright, I'm stopping!" Kaito exclaimed, removing both hands and holding them up in surrender as he jumped back at the unexpected sensation of pain and the power of her refusal of him.

Ino braced her hands back on the work surface, gulping down air now he wasn't smothering her with his body and his presence. She felt ridiculous for acting this way; you weren't meant to have a near panic attack when making out with someone.

"What's wrong?" Kaito repeated again, and when Ino looked up his eyes were actually wide, startled and genuinely concerned, "what happened?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I can't."

"Why? Are you nervous?" Kaito asked, raising his eyebrows, he ran a hand through her hair and once again stepped into her personal bubble, "just relax baby-"

"Stop...I can't...my...my boyfried!" Ino cried, _oh fuck_, she thought, "I...I mean I can't because of my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?"

"...yes."

"Who?" Ino froze, _who? Should I make up a name?_ Her lips moved but no sound came out and after ten seconds of her fish impression she could see her companion readying for his next physical attack.

"He...he's..." Even though Kaito had backed off he was still close and the enquiry in his brown eyes meant there was no way she'd get out of answering. For a moment she considered saying Shika but decided he wasn't threatening enough, besides if he or Temari found out that she was going around telling people she was in a relationship with him they probably wouldn't be best pleased. Asuma and Choji flitted through her mind but in both cases it felt too much like the sickest form of incest, plus Asuma had Kurenai who'd also not appreciate the claim. The idea of Genma came to her out of no where and it seemed perfect but she didn't know how he'd react, she was very wary of not overstepping the lines of their relationship and she was sure telling people they were serious – or serious in Genma terms, anyway – relationship wouldn't make him too appreciative. "I...it's...it's" _say Choji, say Choji! _" it's...Genma, Genma's my boyfriend." _...oh shit_.

"Genma?"

"Yes."

"As in Shiranui?"

"...yes," she muttered quietly. He stood up straight. He moved away. It seemed Genma's name held enough of a threat to deter the young ANBU captain. Ino heaved an internal sigh of relief. Both Kaito's eyebrows shot up and Ino had the distinct feeling that he could tell something was off about her claim; she didn't blame him.

"Your boyfriend is Shiranui Genma?" Ino bit her lip and nodded, she couldn't lie the affirmative out loud. "So the other day when you said..." Ino nodded again, a grave look on her face, _what the hell was I thinking?_ "that was just...?" she nodded again.

"He was on a mission and I was lonely," Ino said guiltily, trying to make it seem like she was a repentant girlfriend and not just a compulsive liar, "I was going to tell you...I was going to go that night but then he came in wounded and I felt really bad." It actually sounded pretty good to her ears and Ino allowed herself an internal pat on the back for her quick thinking and acting skills.

"You were cheating on _Shiranui Genma?_ Why? I thought he was...why?" He thought he was a player? He thought he was popular among women? He thought he was one of the few who could actually bring truth to his claims? All were true, only Ino was the lair and all she could think to say next would make her lies so much worse.

"He's not...he can't..." _Ino don't say it!_ But the words were said and out her mouth before she could even tell herself not to say them, and Kaito's expression was so surprised and smug after they had been said that she could only be glad that her plan had worked. "He can't meet my needs...sexually."

"He...he...what?" _I'm so sorry, Genma_, Ino internally whined, _please forgive me!_

"I mean...he's away a lot and – "

"So you thought I'd be better than Shiranui?" _I'm really not willing to answer that! ...am I?_

"I thought...maybe, you could be." Kaito mouth was almost agape and it made Ino wonder three things: how much Genma actually told people about his sexual experiences, how much he'd told people about _her_, and why an earth did people believe him?

Kaito made to move towards her and was about to speak and she knew he'd be after sex again so she cut in there first, "Listen, Kaito, I'm so sorry for not telling you, I was feeling daring and...and..."

"Naughty?"

"Er...yeah, kind of," Kaito smirked and moved in again, "but I'm not now!" she exclaimed, trying to make it seem like she wasn't shrinking away from him.

"You're not?"

"No, I'm sorry, I really wish I still was but..."

"You can't," Kaito sighed, "I understand," he gave her a small smile and squeezed her shoulder affectionately just before he headed for the door. "But if you're ever feeling naughty again..."

"Yeah, I'll find you," she said, heaving her own sigh of relief as he smirked cheekily and the door banged his exit.

Ino felt her body slump against the sideboard, _what the fuck just happened? Genma is going to kill me._

A new fear surfaced as she walked into her bedroom to change, _just how offended is he going to be if he finds out I'm single?_

* * *

Thanks for reading. Good stuff in next chapter I should imagine ;)

Try to review if you have time and patience, if not then jog on innit :D x.


	11. Escapism

Number 11!

I went away last week and I didn't have the internet and when i got back yesterday I had lots of lovely reviews waiting for me! It was like Christmas!! Lol Thank you soo much to everyone who reviewed! And I just wanna say sorry for any mistakes or inconsistencies. I'm unbeta-ed and I'm trying to update regularly and plus I can't type lol

**Warning: lots of bad language! I tried to cut down on it but I couldn't! So be wary.**

Enjoy xx.

* * *

Ino frowned as she stared out the hospital window. _Back here again_, she sighed. Outside everything was swathed in a cold, grey-blue light even though it had turned July a few days ago; yet the big, dark rain cloud suspended high over the Hokage monument provided more of a sense of warmth and light than anything in the room she was sitting in; everything was so dark and morbid, plain, ugly, uniform: grey.

The steady beep of the grey heart monitor was only bested in its irritation by the rain drumming on the grey tiled roof; Ino felt both were slowly turning her insane like some sort of repetitive sound torture she'd once read about in Sand. She sighed again.

"Will you please stop sighing! If you don't want to be here you can just go!" Yanamaka Kana was sitting right forward in her chair, her blue eyes trained on her husband, not even looking away to snap her bitter remark at her daughter. Ino didn't bother answering back because when she looked at her mother she had resumed her silent, tear stained vigil, her grey fingers gently stroking her husband's grey, lifeless hand and all Ino's resolve to snap back vanished.

"Sorry," she murmured.

Indeed since Genma had been discharged three days earlier Inoichi had become Ino's main priority and she'd spent most of those three days sitting with her mother, trying to persuade her to do normal things. In the muted lighting of the room her mother's light blonde hair looked grey, and her skin looked grey and lined and old. She needed to _stop _being grey.

"Ma, why don't we go out for some breakfast?"

"No."

"Well...then why don't I take you home and-"

"No."

"...then...we can go back to my apartment -"

"No, Ino! I have to stay." Ino ran an exasperated hand over her face and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger, vainly trying to massage away the grey, cloudy headache forming around her temples.

"He'll still be here when we get back," Ino exclaimed, "he's not going anywhere!"

"He might wake up," she protested adamantly. And that was the end of it. Every one of Ino's attempts to get her mother to eat, sleep, go anywhere that wasn't from Sakura's professional, grey office to her father's dreary, grey room ended in this statement and Yamanaka Kana wouldn't give in.

So Ino sat silently again, unable to look at her father because even though she could no longer see his innards he was her dad, he was meant to be big and strong and invincible, especially since he was a shinobi and this was the first time he'd got into a state this bad. He wasn't an ANBU, he was just a jounin because he didn't want to put his family through the stress of having to wait at home whilst he risked his life on dangerous missions; Ino had never really understood why he wasn't in ANBU when he so easily could be, when he _should_ be for the sake of the village; it was only now that she realised why he wasn't; she could hardly take it when this happened once, she couldn't imagine what it would be like if it were a regular occurrence.

Ino noticed she was jiggling her foot up and down in boredom and exasperation; she couldn't just sit there and do nothing! She felt fidgety and out of place, like a splatter of mismatched colours against the grey room.

"Well I'm going," she announced as she stood up. Kana made no indication that she'd heard her daughter, "I'll be back later," she tried again but again got no response, "I'll ask someone to get you some food." Still no response. "Okay, well, bye then." Ino got up. "Anything you want from home?" At least this time her mother responded, shaking her head ever so slowly, keeping the movement as small as she could whilst still relaying her negative response.

As Ino closed the door from the other side she heaved a sigh of relief as colour flooded back; as soon as she got out of the dark room a huge weight lifted off her shoulders and she felt like she could once again breath easy, she felt like she was allowed to think about normal things without feeling guilty and engage in trivial chitchat with trivial people instead of keeping serious conversation and a grave façade.

The most exciting trivial chitchat going around at that moment was talk of Inuzuka Kiba's twenty-first birthday.

Kiba's birthdays were always widely attended and hugely entertaining and this year Ino decided it would also double as a brilliant environment for a manhunt. Operation 'stop-falling-in-love-with-Genma' was becoming more successful as the days away from him went by but she wasn't exactly achieving her second objective. So far her status as a player had taken a major a backseat in her life and now, since the atmosphere in her father's room made her walk around with a constant scowl on her face she didn't exactly look approachable and she wasn't exactly inundated with offers; hopefully that would change at Kiba's party.

The headache was still there she noticed as she crossed the street on the way back home to her apartment. She knew there wasn't much she could do to ease the pain since it was most likely a stress headache; she knew that soon it would be make or break time for her father and as the days slipped by she floated through life, waiting for the news, good or bad, any would feel like a relief at that moment. Then there was Genma and the wonder whether Kaito had been spreading the tinsy lie she told him and just when would Genma discover it and come crashing over to hers to set the record straight.

The headache intensified as she churned all these things around in her head, _definitely stress related_. Ironically she didn't feel like breakfast herself, really. She didn't feel like going back home and crawling into bed only to be awoken by her team mates and _Temari_ and forced to tag along as they acted the happy couple and Choji played Ino's anger buffer so that the couple could be left in peace. She didn't feel like opening the door to a medical jounin who'd tell her to go to the hospital urgently and she definitely didn't feel like a 'I just want to shag you' speech from Genma.

Ino turned around and walked back the way she'd come, back past the hospital and down a side street with an apartment block that she knew TenTen lived in, and if she looked left now she would see the dark silhouette of the ghostly Uchiha complex outlined against the forest. She kept on, eventually coming to the large red gates, briefly noting the two snoozing gate guards and then detoured off the path and into the warm, green forest to loose herself amongst the tall trees.

XXXXXX

People were acting strangely, and Genma didn't like it. If it wasn't bad enough that he had to get up and be ready for Chuunin exam managerial duties at seven in the morning, that all the people around him were huddling together and whispering and making him feel like he only one who wasn't in on the secret certainly _was_ bad enough. _Very _bad enough, because if they weren't congratulating him it generally meant the gossip was bad and some past exploit was re-configuring the details of her previous and very public account of their meeting.

The first hint was that when he came into the ANBU building the admin staff immediately broke off their conversation to stare in wide-eyed surprise at him. No flirty hellos. No cleverly disguised innuendos; just the shocked looks of seven people stunned into silence, which was a very unwelcome change to Genma because he liked the ANBU admin staff, they were nice girls...most of the time, and there had been a rumour going around that he'd done all the admin staff, one version of the rumour saying all at once and the other more conservatively stating in the same week.

In reality he'd only got five of the seven in the end and it was over a period of about a month, except two had been at the same time. He'd almost got dangerously close to settling down with Akina since after three weeks of companionably sleeping together, talking together and just generally being in each other's personal space he realised that being monogamous wasn't so bad after all, and that's when she'd begun kicking him prematurely out of bed. He couldn't have that so he came back in style by having a threesome with Suzu and Shun for which he achieved some very agreeable, and as always, very public feedback. Then there was Yumi, of course, and all the trouble she brought with her which he'd followed up with Ai, a very shy girl who turned out to be quite an animal in the sack.

In the break room his usual crowd of faithful followers were all gathered around Kaito, an ANBU captain from another branch of ANBU to him, and all _his_ listeners were giving him that wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression of awe that meant they were hanging on his every word, a look that was only reserved for the most dirty and riveting of stories. The only cynical, narrowed eyed on-looker was Anko and at the moment she was looking very disbelieving, a frown marring her pretty mouth. Anko wasn't actually in the black ops but she hung out in the break room from time to time because the gossip was better and the eye candy was sweeter.

"I don't believe that." she was saying bluntly, halting the ANBU captain's story.

"What d'ya mean? There's no choice but to believe it, it's cold hard fact." Purple eyebrows rose.

"For one, there's no way she said that, _I_ know him and I've shagged him and believe me if he can meet my sexual needs he can meet anyone's. And secondly he's never going out with her."

"She said it, not me!"

"Then she's lying, obviously, probably to make you back the hell away, I know how you can be when you've had a few."

"I was completely sober," Kaito defended, "and I fucked her senseless afterwards so – oh, hello Genma."

Genma flopped into one of the arm chairs a little way from the couches the arguers sat on.

"Hello," he replied distrustfully; he didn't like nor understand why everyone had tensed and turned to look at him or why some were slinking silently out of the room whilst others had suddenly become very interested in the dregs of coffee in their coffee cup.

"I didn't see you there," Kaito said quietly.

"Genma he's saying-"

"We've got to go," Kaito said, standing up fast, followed hastily by a few of his team, "we were meant to be on patrol ten minutes ago," he mumbled as he observed Anko's scowl. She was still scowling at having been cut off by the brown eyed captain as he hurried out the door and she followed him closely with those unrelenting, dark eyes.

The room became very still.

"No way," an ANBU mumbled as he picked up a finely patterned sword and a coloured cat mask from a table near him.

"Bullshit," another muttered as he made his way to his post as well, surrounded by other ANBU also murmuring their concurrence.

When the room was very much more empty than it had been when he entered Anko scooted over to a chair where Genma was sitting, smiling sexily as she cocked her head to the side indicating a question was about to be posed.

"Well haven't you caused quite the stir?"

"What?"

"Tell me about Yamanaka Ino?"

"What about her?"

"She's the mystery chuunin right?"

"What?"

"You know, the one I've been trying to discover since Raidou told me-"

"Raidou told you? That little fuck needs to learn when to shut his goddamn mouth!"

"Language, baby," Anko cooed, "so its true? You and Ino?"

"Its...why? What's it got to do with you?"

"I've been hearing unsavoury rumours that-"

"-I didn't force anyone if that what you're going to say-"

"No, worse! I heard Ino has taken you off the market and is now attempting to cheat on you because you can't fuck her straight or something. Please tell me that's not true!"

"Its not! Jesus, who told you that!?"

"Kaito." Anko said, "I knew he was full of bullshit! He says he shagged Ino the other day and she moaned like a bitch because she wasn't getting any from you and I thought unless she's seriously lowered her standards there's no way he did that, and also if there's anyone who could get frigid Ino to moan like a bitch its going to be you, _and_ if you've properly established stuff with Ino you would at least let me know so I could cross you off my easy shag list." Genma didn't know whether to be very mad or very flattered, in the end he decided to be very confused, this was far too much information for so early in the morning.

"Hang on," Genma said, rubbing his eyes tiredly before continuing, "who told you that me and Ino were public?"

"Kaito just did, that's why he's run out the room like a chicken-shit, 'cuz he thought you were, see, and he was harping on about how he nailed Ino."

"He nailed Ino?"

"So he claims," Anko pulled a face, "fuck if he did though."

"And who said I can't fuck straight?"

"Kaito said Ino sought him out because you couldn't get her off," Anko said as if rehearsing a lesson, "everyone listened, no one believes him, your reputation is safe, I went with Kaito once..." Anko said, pausing for a second as if considering what his performance had been like, "eh, he was okay, he served his purpose...eventually."

"Wait...wait, I need to think," Genma murmured, retrieving a senbon from his pocket and flicking it into his mouth. What the fuck had happened? He'd only been away for a few days to recover and now all this? Four things were wrong with what he was being told, for one Ino had said Genma and she were in a proper relationship. Secondly Kaito had fucked Ino which was fair enough (even thought he didn't like it) but thirdly and most annoyingly Kaito had fucked Ino even though he thought she was with him? Genma was fucking angry with the ANBU captain because he may be a captain and technically his superior but really Genma had been around a long time and were he not in a position where he got all the best jobs and the most pay he probably would have become a captain, as it was being a Special Jounin and an oftentimes ANBU he managed to get more money and did less work than them, which suited him fine. He could kick the pretty ANBU captain's ass!

He wasn't angry with Ino because Ino would never say that they were together, because they weren't and she knew they weren't and he knew they weren't. He hadn't spoken to her since he was discharged and from what he could gather from those around him she was pretty fixated on looking after her parents and he reckoned she wouldn't want his input into her life. The fourth thing wrong with what he'd been told was that in the melee of 'he told hers' and 'she told hims' someone had told someone that Genma was bad in bed and that was a huge concern.

"Ino told Kaito...what? Hang on I'm confused."

"Ino told Kaito the two of you were together," she waited for Genma's nod of comprehension before she continued, "and that you couldn't handle her sexually so Kaito would have to do it." Genma shook his head adamantly.

"No, no fucking way! She came fair and square!"

"Maybe she faked?"

"Did _you_ fake?!"

"No, but some girls aren't into oral that much-"

"_She_ was!"

"Okay, okay, it's not me you've got to persuade; it's your flock of _loyal _followers, but don't worry most don't believe it and the rest? Well...they just think you might have dropped the ball this time, you are getting on a bit-"

"Yes, thank you, I'm aware," Genma snapped, sitting back in his chair and sighing.

"It'll all blow over eventually," Anko cooed in a way that was possibly meant to be soothing but sounded more menacing to him.

Mitarashi Anko was an enigma when she wasn't being a bitch or a whore. Fortunately enough she liked Genma as he was always there for her, in any way she needed him, which was usually sexual anyway but was often for a few work related favours. Genma didn't know a lot about Anko except one thing: Anko had serious issues, ones that far outshone any that he had ever encountered before. He knew her as a kunoichi pretty well. He knew her sexually pretty well. But no one knew _her _well; no one knew her emotionally at all and this, coupled with his knowledge of her sexually and how he'd once or twice heard her sobbing in his bathroom after sex led him to believe that an adolescent Anko had been wounded very deeply somewhere just to the left of the middle of her chest cavity, and one did not have to be a genius for one to work out which snake tongued psychopath that was likely to be. But she did well for herself. In fact she was remarkably well turned out considering what had probably happened to her and Genma was glad he could be of assistance to her on occasion; it didn't bother him, he just added her to his list of women he popped up now and again and propping Anko up was generally a very pleasurable experience; plus it was always helpful to be owed a favour by someone and although he'd never dream of telling people of Anko's personal moments of vulnerability that he'd witnessed the threat of making them public knowledge led Genma to be able to pretty much tame Anko...somewhat, and at that moment he needed a big favour from Anko, because making her keep her mouth shut required a big favour.

"Erm...Anko?"

"Hm?" she wasn't looking at him anymore; instead she was flicking idly through a magazine that someone had kindly left on the coffee table, it was in fact a tourist brochure from Snow.

"Could you try and stub out the gossip about Ino, please?" Anko immediately looked up from the picture of a large snowy mountain and a bronzed, handsome man in front of it advertising something to narrow her devious eyes at Genma. "What?! She's going through a hard time! The last thing she needs is-"

"-you mean the last thing _you_ need is all those pretty girls thinking you're taken?" She had a scowl on her face as she said it and it wasn't said in jest. Sometimes it seemed like she just didn't like men, he wondered if she should think about seeing women; maybe he just wanted her to be able to settle down and live in a nice, cosy family home, or maybe it was just something to do with girl on girl action? He shook girl on girl action from his mind.

"No," he said calmly, "...well yes, that as well, but I don't want any hassle for her." Anko's eyebrows were still raised and he was about to open his mouth to explain further when the red headed secretary poked her head around the door.

"Genma you're supposed to be helping with the Chuunin exam board people! They're waiting for you."

"Fuck," he mumbled, scrambling up from his seat. Anko smirked.

"It's because my conversation is so stimulating, isn't it?" she said grinning.

"Sure," he muttered, running a stressed hand through his hair and sucking more firmly on his senbon. Anko sighed, glancing at her friend.

"Oh stop being dramatic," she exclaimed as she prodded him on the arm, "I'll hush up the gossip," Anko said, "but you have to clear this up with Ino _today_! She's a good girl is Ino."

"I know," he said, standing up, "thank you."

Anko shrugged and Genma was sure that she only slouched back on the comfy sofa and threw her legs over one of the arms to demonstrate how leisurely her schedule was compared to his.

Ino was troubling him as he walked down the hallways. It just had to be a nasty coincidence that what Rei had said coincided so nicely with what he was hearing from the rumour mill...right?

XXXXXX

Ino was sitting on the floor in the woods, leaning back on her hands. Her thoughts were on Genma; she really wished they weren't.

She let out a growl of frustration as she scrunched her fingers in the grass and pulled out a chunk of the cool, green strands with a satisfying crunching sound.

Why did she always get herself into these situations? Why couldn't it ever be like Shika and Temari or Asuma and Kurenai for her? She still wanted the fairytale deep down inside, her prince charming had changed though and possibly changed for the worse because she expected in any fairytale Genma would see himself as the abrupt younger brother of prince charming, one who could drink and smoke and philander around for the rest of his life if he wanted because lets face it he was never going to be the king anyway. If she waited for Prince Genma Princess Ino would sit in her stone tower forever.

Ino closed her eyes, wallowing in self-pity.

She dozed as she lay there in the dappled sunlight of the trees, every now and then running her hands along the lush, grassy forest floor. As she lay there with her eyes closed thinking about things she could feel the inevitable tingle of tears forming in her eyes. She hated that she was so weepy lately, she cried at the drop of a hat! She supposed she was more like her mother than she cared to recognise.

Ino felt very lost in life, all the constants were shifting; she guessed she was growing up, finally, but everything was becoming skewed and different: Sasuke wasn't the most gorgeous person anymore, Shika wasn't the most perfect person anymore, Sakura wasn't the ever resent best friend, her father wasn't invincible, her mother had problems besides the ones Ino came to her with. Life was so odd. She guessed the only real constant that had stayed the same was the one that she had sought to change when she met Genma: she was still needy, she still became far too attached to people far too easily and now she was in danger of doing it again, or maybe she already had done it again?

Ino took a deep breath and hauled herself into the here and now and out of her wallowing, it wouldn't do any good.

In the here and now she was sure she could feel something wet against her arm. At first she thought it was just the grass, then she began to think it was rain, but as the feeling persisted, even as the wind swayed the trees and the sun heat the spots of her body the leaves did not shadow she became sure it was not rain, surely the rain would be warm, this feeling was decidedly cold. She didn't really want to open her eyes because she was really not sure of what she'd find. She wasn't good with bugs, if it was some sort of creepy animal she _would _scream. When she opened her eyes, however, it was more a huge urge to make some kind of high pitched, girly, giddy, squeal rather than a scream of repulsion.

It was the cutest, most fluffiest, most _snuffliest_ little white puppy that kept pushing his little black nose against her forearm.

"Ah!" She did squeal. The world suddenly seemed a much lighter place. "Hello," she said, sitting up and speaking in one of those ridiculously high pitched voices people talk to pets in, "what are you doing here?"

The dog was well groomed and had a small black collar around its neck with a tag that had the kanji for 'white' on it.

"Shiro," Ino read and the puppy's small white ears pricked up, "your name's Shiro?"

"Shirrroooo!" The puppy crouched low on the ground and wagged its little tail high in the air before charging around Ino and crashing into her back in a small collision of force and fur. "Oi! Where are ya?"

Ino heard the crashing of footfalls from the bushes in front of her and although she wasn't so surprised that a humongous white dog had now joined their duet she was surprised that he was snarling at her, his white teeth glinting with saliva. She'd never seen this dog like that, it was a bit of a shock really and that was probably why her hand instinctively closed around the kunai holstered to her leg at which move the dog began circling. _Oh fuck_.

The dog stopped as he came closer and sniffed the air around Ino, then, giving a yelp of excitement bounded up and resting his front paws on Ino's knees gave her a big slobbery kiss-lick all the way up the right side of her face.

"Ewwwww! Akamaru!" Ino exclaimed, wiping her face on her sleeve. She could hear chuckling from behind the huge white dog which she was sure had grown even huger since the last time she'd seen it. Ino pushed Akamaru off. "Your dog has no manners," she told Kiba who was standing near the tree lined entrance to the clearing, still laughing and with an army of almost identical little, white puppies at his heals.

"He means no harm," he told Ino, walking to where she was sitting, the small dogs lolloping behind him, "he's just got a very unique way with the ladies is all."

"Hm," she grimaced as she rubbed her face absently. "This is yours, I presume," Ino said, moving to the side slightly to reveal a very excited puppy. Akamaru barked and it darted behind Ino again.

"Ah, there he is, I've been looking for him all morning, he's a stealthy little bastard," Kiba said by way of explanation. Akamaru barked angrily. "I meant it figuratively," he told his dog, "they're all Akamaru's, see? First time breeding and we got twenty puppies so he's walking around all big headed now."

"Twenty?! That's a lot of dog names to think up."

"Hmm, I know," Kiba said at which point the puppy behind Ino decided to run into her back again with a thump.

"He's gorgeous," Ino said, lifting the dog called Shiro from its hiding spot and putting it on the floor in front of her.

"Yeah," Kiba said vaguely, rubbing his jaw with the side on his index finger and thumb, "he's alright." He didn't exactly sound convinced. "He's just a little slow on the uptake," he told Ino as she cocked an eyebrow at his hesitance to praise the small white dog, "he can't learn basic commands, he won't train, he just wants to play hide and seek all the time, then he gets himself lost and he cries and the neighbours complain and the Hokage complains and...well you know, stuff like that." Ino didn't really know, she'd never had a dog.

"Well, he's definitely got stealth down," Ino said, "he crept up on me easily enough." Kiba grinned.

"What you doing out here anyway?"

"Just sitting," she said not really fancying telling Kiba the intricacies of her personal problems. Kiba nodded soberly and it suddenly occurred to her that he was probably aware of some of her problems anyway.

"I heard about your dad," he said. Ino stiffened.

"Yeah," she said, averting her eyes down to where Shiro was jumping up at Akamaru and biting his black ears, much to her larger dog's chagrin, it made her smile.

"I'm really sorry for you," he said sincerely, squatting down to swat the puppy away from his increasingly irritated father who was growling lowly, the puppy was taking no notice. Ino nodded wordlessly, watching as the puppy bit Kiba's thumb instead and grappled with his hand. "Ouch," he mumbled. The sound of Ino's soft laughter at the mini-wrestling match made him look up and his brown eyes lit in a smile.

_Hmm, dog boy grew up._

Ino returned the smile before turning her attention back to the dogs, feeling his eyes linger over her, she heard him shift position slightly. At length her eyes wondered up to his wrist, then his arm. The sleeves of his coat were pushed up to reveal muscular, bronzed forearms and just up and left, through the mesh network of his top, she could just see the muscular curve of pectoral that promised a nicely toned torso underneath.

_Dog boy got hot._

She didn't feel guilty for ogling him because she could tell his eyes were a little south of her face. She didn't mind, the attraction was mutual.

"They're nice," she said, looking at each little white dog.

"They are," he said. Something about his inattentive tone made Ino sneak a look at him. _Still ogling south of the face._

"They're all round and cute," she smirked.

"They are."

"And they're so soft," she said.

"Uh-huh."

"I hope you're able to tame them soon."

"I wi...what?" he looked up at her face, she was smirking. He went slightly pink.

"The dogs," she said, "I said I hope they don't keep acting up, so you can train them to be nin-dogs soon."

"Oh, yeah, the dogs, right."

"Are you going to train them all?" Ino asked. Kiba shrugged.

"Might do, some are showing more promise than others though," he said, glaring at the puppy that was now doing battle with one of the buttons on Kiba's coat.

"Well, Hokage monument wasn't built in a day," she said, reaching out to ruffle one of the puppies ears but was intercepted by Akamaru.

"He gets jealous of all the attention his kids get," Kiba explained.

"Oh," Ino ruffled Akamaru's ears.

"Are you coming tomorrow?" Ino looked up.

"Er – I might be."

"_Might_ be?"

"Well, I'll see what the situation is with the hospital-"

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot."

"That's okay," Ino smiled. Some birds took off into the sky and both ninja tensed instinctively, watching as they flew high up over the trees. The sun was high above them at the middle point in the sky.

"Oh crap, what time is it?" Kiba asked, noticing the sun's position.

"Midday I guess," Ino replied, watching as Kiba scrambled to his feet.

"I've got to go, see you around." Kiba made to leave the clearing, his dogs running ahead of him but he paused before he disappeared completely.

"I...er...I really hope you can make it...tomorrow I mean," he said.

"I'll try," she told him.

"If you do..." he paused again and met her eyes, "come and find me, yeah?" he said.

"Y...yeah, okay," was this him asking her out?

"Okay," he repeated, "good," and with a smile that flashed a tantalising glimpse of a slightly elongated canine tooth he turned and ran after his dogs.

XXXXXX

Collecting information on Ino's whereabouts was like pulling teeth but eventually he ran into Kiba who recommended the woods.

"I saw here there a while ago," he said, lounging on a verge next to a set of training grounds with a few other ninja drinking a cans of beer.

"Wa'satter? Lost yur gurrrlfriend, Genma?" Raidou slurred, lying sprawled but immensely happy.

"No," was all he said before he moved off to search the woods. If he said nothing then there was nothing to add fuel to the rumour.

He found Ino on her back looking up at the sky, her limbs splayed around her and gleaming with a fine layer of perspiration. She looked edible. She'd be a thoroughly satisfying lunch he reckoned.

Before he'd even said anything or got very close she spoke, sensing his presence; she wasn't a shinobi for nothing.

"Genma please can you just leave it until tomorrow," Ino said, though the severe tone to her voice kind of voided the 'please', "I'm _really _not in the mood now."

Ino had got herself in a mood again by brooding over the fact that she didn't have a puppy. She decided that not even a puppy would love her and that spiralled her down into even deeper and more ridiculous depths of self-pity. She knew she was being stupid and that Genma's presence meant she could tell him what she'd told Kaito in the hopes that she'd got there first and it could be brushed of and laughed about. And that was a plus. But she just wasn't in the mood for it.

"Not in the mood for what? I was just wondering where my lovely sex pig was." Apparently humour was not the right path to go down since she threw one of her sandals at him, narrowly missing his head. Genma watched as the shoe hit a tree then thudded against the ground.

"Piss off!" she exclaimed just in case he still had not received her message. _No_, Genma thought_, she doesn't think we're in a relationship because if she did I'd hope she'd be much more demure._ Though Ino wasn't very demure by nature so...he was lost again.

"So," Genma asked, disregarding Ino's kind request and sitting down on the grass a sufficient distance away from the irritated kunoichi, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she snapped, "I'm just stressed."

"Well don't get angry about it, everybody gets stressed."

"_You _never get stressed!"

"I do sometimes, but there's not much a nice, cool senbon can't cure." Ino gave him a funny look. "Try it," he said, taking out two senbon from his pocket and handing one to Ino, thinking vaguely that perhaps giving a bad-tempered kunoichi a weapon to chill her out wasn't an ideal move, but whatever. If she got violent he could handle her, he hoped.

"Do these have your slobber on?" Ino barked, eyeing the weapons sceptically, "because if they do then I'm not putting it in my mouth!" Genma tutted at her petulant tone and held the stick up to her lips.

"You know, the last time you were exposed to my slobber you actually seemed to quite enjoy it," he said matter-of-factly, "open," he ordered, popping the weapon into her open mouth once she executed his demand.

Thankfully she stayed quiet after that and Genma watched as she sucked thoughtfully on the senbon for a while, contending with its positioning in her mouth and how not to get spiked by the lethal point of the stick. He could see her contemplating the metallic taste, rolling her tongue up and down the smooth, curved surface; it was actually strangely erotic and a whole new world of very strange, standard jounin equipment related foreplay opened up before Genma's eyes.

"It feels weird," she told him, "I don't feel de-stressed I just feel silly." Genma sighed.

"You have to give it time to work," he said, feigning graciousness as he reclined on the long, soft grass.

Ino sighed and lay back also, finding that Genma's stomach - regardless of all the time he spent training and making it rock hard with rippling, bumpy muscles - was actually very comfortable. It was strange how when she was with Genma their relationship was not a problem for her, she just enjoyed the time she spent with him. She knew she was being incredibly self-destructive, she knew falling in love with Genma was a very self-destructive thing to do but when they were like this she was helpless to stop it happening. She snuggled into him, warmth and comfort washing over her as she inhaled his skin, he smelt of Genma, like her pillows had. A few moments later the pleasant weight of Genma's fingers dragged through her hair and she was almost off to sleep that was until –

"Ouch!"

"What?"

"I spiked my tongue!" Genma snickered. "It's not funny! I'm bleeding!"

"Senbon sucking is an art form; you guys don't give me enough credit for it."

"Senbon sucking is stupid!" she replied adamantly.

"That's a shame," he murmured, his fingers working in small, luscious circles around her temples, "you look pretty sexy with my senbon in your mouth." She was too comfortable to discipline him for the double-entendre.

His massaging fingers gently slid to the warm, metal engraving plate on her hitai-ate and smoothly slipped the whole head band off her head.

"What you doing?"

"Shhh, lift your head," she did so, though cautiously, and a few seconds later she could just about see his two hands fiddling with something above her head. He pulled his fingers back and Ino felt the knot created by the two blue ends of her hitai-ate rest against the top of her forehead.

"Now you're ready to relax," he said, gently pushing her head down onto his stomach again.

"Now I look like you," she mumbled angrily.

"Then you're a very lucky girl." Ino snorted.

_This would be just the right opportunity to tell him what you did_, a snide little voice between her ears told her, _and it would be one weight off your mind_. The snide little voice was right though; they were both relaxed, they were both on casually intimate terms and the setting was so serene with the chirp of young birds and the sway of the tall, leafy trees that it might just help calm him down if he got mad.

"Genmaa," Ino said, the innocent, girlish lilt to her voice showing that she was trying to butter him up, she was either going to ask him for something or it was damage control, Genma knew it was one of the two.

"What?"

"I did something really bad the other day," she said, rolling over onto her stomach and drawing a little, distracting circle on the exposed skin where his top had rode up a bit. She glanced up at him with big, wide blue eyes before averting when back to her moving finger coyly.

Genma couldn't fault her façade of innocence, when she was like that, using _that _voice, with _those_ eyes and fidgeting like a little girl it was hard to be angry with her and the whole thing was made even more cute as her ruffled, blonde hair stuck up strangely from under her backwards hitai-ate and she was chewing nervously on the sharp, metal stick.

"So I've been hearing," he said, removing his hand to cushion his head, "Ino, what have you been telling people?" Ino's eyes flickered up to his, for a moment all timidity and demureness gone and replaced by a dear-caught-in-the-headlights look of shock and surprise.

"You know?" she said.

"Know what?" he answered cryptically.

"You know what I told Kaito and you aren't mad?" Genma considered it for a second; he wasn't really mad, no.

"No, I'm confused though, I mean you know we're not...you know we have really good sex – or at least I thought we did - and that's about it."

"I know, I know," she said, experiencing a strange tingle of emotion in her chest that promped her eyes to dart back to her fingers, "I got into a bad situation," she said, "and the only way I could get out of it was-"

"To tell people we were serious?" She looked up at the disbelieving tone in him voice and saw his eyebrows raised in a similar display of incredulity. "What situation requires that?"

"I was...well you see remember when I came back that day? And Kaito was on my doorstep?" Genma nodded. "Well after I left you I went to see my parents and had a massive argument with my mum because she wouldn't eat anything, and I said she was deliberately making herself ill and she started saying that it was a good thing because if he died she wouldn't want..." a wave of emotion washed over her and she decided it was time to quickly move from that particular exchange, "...anyway, I got home and Kaito was still there and I was feeling pretty crap and...well we got kissing first but then...but then it sort of...well you know how it happens, I don't have to explain to you, it all started getting a bit serious and I wanted someone to comfort me not just shag me so I asked him to stop and he was a bit...a bit slow in getting the message..."

"What?! You mean he-"

"No, no, no, nothing bad, he stopped in the end, just I had to tell a tiny lie to get him to stop..." She watched Genma's face as comprehension dawned.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You told him we were going out."

"Exactly," she said, "I'm really sorry, it just came out! I had to think fast and I was going through all the males I know and I couldn't think! I was going to say Asuma or Shikamaru but it would just be too weird and complicated so I thought I'd say Chouji but it came out...it came out..."

"It came out 'Genma'?" He was grinning a teasing grin. That was definitely a good sign.

"You're not angry?"

"No, not about that part," he told her, his brows drawing together to create a very grave expression that she'd never seen from Genma, "I thought you came? Did you not? You should have told me! I would have-"

"No! It's not that!" Ino said, blushing furiously as she remembered the other part of the lie she'd have to account for, "He...he wanted me to explain why I was cheating on you. It was the only thing I could think of, and I wasn't thinking! I'm so sorry." Genma shrugged.

"That's okay...but you did come right?"

"Yes, you know I did," she mumbled, embarrassed.

"And in your opinion I can handle you sexually?"

"Yes, Genma," she said, rolling her eyes, "now you're just fishing for compliments."

"I'm not!" he said, "But it would be nice if you could spread it around that you did get off," he told her, "you know just so people are aware – ouch!"

"Serves you right!" Ino said of the jab to the ribs her index finger had just given him.

"Well you do owe me," Genma smirked, his hands once again finding her soft hair and raking long fingers through it. Ino smiled:

"I'm so glad that's out the way, I can relax now," she told him, resting her cheek against his stomach.

"So...am I bigger than him?"

"What?"

"Am I bigger than him?"

"Than who?"

"Than Kaito."

"I don't know! We didn't get that far."

"Hn?"

"We didn't actually do anything!"

"I thought...he said...oh." Genma felt a twinge of anger in his gut, _what a prick!_

"What?"

"He – er – he's saying that you...and he..."

"Ewww!" Ino screeched once Genma had offered some helpful hand gestures to aid her understanding, "No!! No, no, no, no, no! Who's he told that to?"

"Just some ANBU-"

"Some ANBU! They're the worst! So now I'm going to get a load of sleezy ANBU thinking they know...oh no...what did he tell them?" Ino closed her eyes in frustration, "Oh god, if he had to make up the details then it's going to be ten times worse! Oh fuck! I'm actually going to kill him! No worse, I'm going to castrate him!"

"On the bright side though, the way he's telling everyone it's bound to get back to Asuma and I'm sure he'll have a good go at him," Genma said, really meaning, _I'm going to kick the shit out of him_.

"He's a captain!" Ino exclaimed, "Asuma-sensei can't take on a captain!"

"Eh, I have a feeling he might have a good go," Genma answered vaguely, already thinking of all the ways he would inflict pain on him. Firstly he needed to teach the young captain that when a lady says 'no', she means 'no', and secondly he needed to inform him that if your going to kiss and tell to make sure you actually kiss first, and thirdly, don't mess with Ino, just don't do it.

Ino sighed. "This is such a mess," she said, "I should have just let him, I mean then at least he wouldn't have to make up the details on his own!"

"What, you think he wouldn't still have had you screaming out his name all night? He's not a nice guy, Ino,"

"No! He's a fucking asshole!"

"Shh, calm down again," Genma murmured. He heard and felt her sigh against him, her breath fanning out over his torso.

"You going to Kiba's party?" This time Genma sighed.

"I always hate Kiba's parties." Ino positioned her elbows on him and propped herself up on them.

"Why?"

"Because I know that there's only a week left until mine, which means I'll be a year older."

"What's wrong with that?" Genma stared at Ino and the questioning innocence in her eyes made the age gap between them stretch out further in front of him than it ever had before; Ino was not yet at the age where aging was a problem.

"Nothing," he murmured, "Only...I'll be one year older to being old and alone with no one to love me," he said with artificial sorrow and melodrama, again turning to humour when he didn't know how to react to Ino. Ino laughed.

"Oh no! I'll love you!" she said in the same manner of jest, climbing up his body to be parallel with him face, intending on kissing him. She stopped suddenly as what she said was relayed back to her in her mind. "I...I mean...well, you know." Genma smiled.

"I know," he answered, accepting her invitation of a kiss and slipping his hand under the metal engraving plate of her hitai-ate at the back of her head.

"Yamanaka Ino?" Both jumped. Ino backed off Genma quickly and looked up to see the stark white uniform of a medic nin. _Oh shit_, Genma thought.

"Yes," Ino was immediately alert, standing up and sliding off her backwards headband, "what's happened?"

"There's been a change to your father's condition."

* * *

Man puppies are great! I fancy Kiba quite a bit, that's a bit sad isn't it? Oh well I stroke his puppies any day ;)

Again sorry for mistakes and review if your feeling up for it. x.


	12. Proposition

**Warning:** bad language and adult themes!

enjoy!

* * *

Ino rushed through the hallways of the hospital with Genma in hot pursuit.

Genma didn't think Ino was aware that when the medic nin had summoned her she'd immediately clasped his hand as if he were the only thing keeping her grounded to earth. He didn't think she was aware that she hadn't let go yet and was pulling him behind her as he tried not to stumble. Her mind was on her father, not him, but still her fingers curled tightly around his own and gripped him in such a way that only a shinobi could.

He could hear her breath thundering from her throat as she pushed them both on, dodging the trolleys and patients and medics that obstructed her path to her father.

"Ino!" The shout down the corridor was from Sakura and Ino sped up.

"Sakura," she gasped, breathing hard, "what happened? Is he okay?" Sakura was smiling, _thank fuck_, thought Genma.

"He's fine, Ino," Sakura said, "he woke up about an hour ago."

"Fuck," was all she could manage, her fingers tightening around Genma's hand. He reciprocated the gesture, trying to keep how much they probably did look like a couple to other people from his mind, now wasn't the time for distancing himself from her.

"He came around for about a minute and then was out again. But he's woken up a few times in the hour and he's getting more lucid each time."

"What about my ma?"

"She was with him when he woke up first time," Sakura said, "he didn't do much, just smiled and squeezed her hand and went back to sleep again. I sent someone to get you ages ago; I thought he might need some daughterly encouragement to wake up." Ino nodded.

"Sorry, I was just loosing myself for the day," Ino told her and Genma just caught the tiny motion of Sakura's green eyes darting from Ino to him; no doubt she thought that her best friend had spent her day lost in Konoha's easiest player, _I wish Sakura-chan_, he thought. Sakura smiled uneasily at them both and possibly because she couldn't think of anything positive to say of their supposed relationship she decided not to comment and turned professional.

"There were a few complications," she said, "because his organs were exposed for a short amount of time, we were worried about a bacterial infection in the exposed tissues but he'll be okay, he's on antibiotics. He's a tough guy, your dad," Sakura said, "he's got a few years left in him yet." Ino smiled and laughed; it was carefree and genuinely happy, Genma liked that sound. "You can go in and see him if you want," Sakura told her.

"Thank you so much," Ino cried, flinging her arms around the pink-haired medic, her hand sliding out of Genma's.

XXXXXX

In the end Genma had sauntered home after informally being dismissed. He'd stayed for a while just in case Inoichi woke up and wanted to know what had happened, he guessed he would be able to fill him in more than most others would but in the time he waited the blond did not wake up. Ino and her mother were sitting by his bedside, the air of tension seemingly gone since both were smiling and talking easily. Ino was fine now, she didn't need him there, so he'd left.

He supposed he'd used up his daily quota of her time that day anyway; the rest belonged to her family. It flitted across his mind briefly that it might be nice to have a bigger share of her time, but it was gone as soon as it had come because realistically why should he? He wasn't willing to go down that route with any one any time soon, despite the fact that he turned forty in a week and two days and felt like he should actually be settling down a bit, not necessarily with a girl, just changing stuff, becoming an adult at last.

Genma looked at his watch, it was four twenty six; on the way home he calculated that he was thirty nine years, eleven months, three weeks, four hours and twenty seven minutes old. Working it out to the minute didn't make him feel any better though. Tomorrow night he'd drown his sorrows, he decided; no women, no getting roped into any poker games, no fights, just a few hours of unadulterated drinking so he could forget that he was thirty nine years, eleven months, three weeks, four hours and twenty seven minutes old. _Twenty eight minutes old_ _now_, he thought bitterly as he reached his apartment and caught the time from the clock on the wall through his apartment's windows.

He knew if he went back to the Jounin building now he'd only be made to do more work that was meant for someone much busier than he, but that could be sponged off on him. He couldn't be bothered. Genma loved being a Jounin and an ANBU but hated the admin that went with it. He was just deciding that he would gather some equipment then go looking for someone to fight (possibly Kaito, he mused) when he saw the note taped to his door, written in Raidou's scrawl.

'Come to ANBU building for Wave mission: part 2'

_Brilliant._ That meant more poring over maps, more cocky ANBU strategists, more paper work, more of everything he hated.

XXXXXX

By the time Ino realised Genma had gone home it was about seven o' clock that evening, and, whilst walking home, hands in pockets and body hunched against the cold a beautiful ANBU had flitted before her in an immaculate uniform with a brightly painted bird mask pulled down over their face.

"Yamanaka Ino," the ANBU stated.

"Yes?"

"You are wanted at ANBU headquarters."

"Now?" Ino was starving. The ANBU nodded once and said nothing more. "Why?" she asked, _have I done something wrong? _The ANBU gave no indication either way, tension mounted in Ino's chest, she _hadn't_ done anything wrong, had she?

"Wanted by who?" she asked, wondering if this question would be answered.

"ANBU team 081." This meant nothing to Ino.

"Who?" At length and as the ANBU stood motionless and speechless Ino sighed. "Fine," she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and watching as the ANBU turned quickly at her words and seemingly disappeared into thin air.

Ino took a deep breath. The elation of seeing her father alive and sort of well drained from her body as she considered going into the ANBU building; in working use the ANBU HQ was terrifying, especially to a little Chunin kunoichi who specialized in medical and mostly submissive jutsu; she could hold her own in a fight and was an asset to any team but still, she was hardly ANBU standard. The building didn't help either, being naturally imposing with its large, dark frontage and, inside, shadowy marble effect floor and heavy metal doors. Everything was plain but not boringly so, it was professional and severe, all angular corners and deep, dusky colours.

To make matters worse the building was deathly silent when she entered, a few Jounin dotted the monotony of darkness, milling around the place clad in their beige-grey uniform but with their masks pulled up so their identity was visible. They stared at Ino as she passed, stared as she shifted her eyes over them, stared as she angled her eyes self-consciously to the ground, and stared as she shuffled over to the main desk behind which a dark haired secretary sat.

"Uh – hello I was asked to come he-"

"Name." the brunette barked sharply.

"Ino – uh – Yamanaka Ino." The woman behind the desk took a long time scrutinising her, from her pretty blonde hair to her well worn shoes, then back up again, her mouth twisting down at the corners when she encountered her exposed midriff and legs; Ino tried unsuccessfully to pull her purple top down to her hips. The secretary next moved to a list of names she had written on a clip board next to her desk before tilting her piercing eyes back to Ino.

"_Who_ asked you to come?"

"I – I don't know," Ino said, trying not to feel like a little girl being interrogated by a particularly nasty teacher. _I'm not a school girl! _Collecting herself she stood up straight realising she'd been shrinking back from the intimidating secretary,_ she's only a secretary_, she told herself, _not even a shinobi, you may not be an ANBU but at least you're a Chunin! _"Actually...it was team 081 – I think." The woman paused for a second, her eyebrows raised on her make-up splattered face. Ino was really beginning to dislike this woman. After the pause she sat forward in her chair, placing her arms delicately on the table in front of her.

"Well _dear_," she said, stressing the pet name in a most hideously condescending manner that made Ino bristle. She strongly suspected that was its intended reaction. "Well _dear_, I think you've wondered into the wrong building," she said, smiling a sickly sweet smile that crinkled her eyes annoyingly and looked altogether cruel in nature. Ino felt anger prickle up her spine.

"Then what? I just go? And disregard an order from an ANBU official?" Ino snapped, emboldened by the irritation this woman was stirring in her. And she was still starving hungry!

"I think you've been misinformed," the secretary stated firmly. Anger bubbled over into Ino's mouth, ready to depart some nastiness of her own.

"Well I think you've been – "

"Ino?" Ino turned, thankfully recognising the smiling face of her one time fellow medic, Akina.

"Akina!" _Thank god_, she thought, turning away fully from the stupid secretary and relieved to do so.

Ino and Akina had studied medicine together at one point before she decided it really wasn't for her and took up a job at ANBU admin. They'd got pretty close in the few months they both toiled to become medics but the two hardly ever had time to see each other now.

"It's team 081 that want you," Akina said brightly, sliding her arm through Ino's so they were linked, "they're in S11, I'll show you." Ino just had time to look over her shoulder an aim a smirk at the brunette at the front desk before being pulled away by Akina. "I told Tarou to get you but he was just coming off his shift and he was really reluctant," Akina was saying, "I should have known he'd only do half the job," she sighed. "So anyway a little birdie told me that you and Genma are going steady." Ino laughed.

"No," she said, "no way, can you imagine Genma going steady with anyone." Akina could actually, it had almost happened, but she'd never tell anyone that.

"So it's not true? That's a shame."

"A shame? Why?" Akina shrugged.

"That man needs to be reigned in some time or one day he'll wake up fifty and alone and have a mid-life crisis. I've seen it happen to shinobi before, they think they're invincible, see?" Ino nodded slowly.

"Do...do you think he ever would settle down? With one woman only?" Akina shrugged again.

"He may do, why? Feeling up to the task?" Ino laughed again.

"It sounds like a job for someone who has a lot of time and patience."

"And that isn't you?" Ino felt her cheeks pinken.

"Me?"

"Only I was talking to Suzu who did the night shifts at the hospital the other night and she said the two of you looked very cosy." Ino stared at Akina, her eyes wide.

"It wasn't like that!" she exclaimed.

"Really? Then what was it like?"

"We're just friends," Ino insisted.

"_We're_ just friends, but I don't jump into bed with you." Ino could feel herself becoming flustered.

"He was comforting me because my dad was ill, that was all." Akina raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Anyway," Ino huffed, "if you heard that rumour you'd also hear the one Kaito's been mouthing off about."

"I did," she said, pulling the large metal door in front of them open and ushering Ino through, "but I didn't believe it, Genma's good in bed." It was Ino's turn to turn her raised eyebrows on her friend.

"And you would know through first hand experience?" Akina smiled.

"Maybe," she said, they walked along in silence for a while. A nervous feeling began dancing in Ino's stomach as she read the name plates of the doors they were passing, S1, S2, S3, S4... Akina spoke again, "why? Jealous?" Ino scoffed.

"Why would I be?" Akina shrugged.

"There's truth behind every rumour Ino," she said.

"I know there is, but what does that have to do with anything? We had sex, so what? Half the girls in Konoha have had sex with him, what's so extraordinary about me doing it?"

"Because, it just is. Yuugao thinks he really likes you, she says you're not disposable to him like the others."

"What?" Akina stopped outside a door, a door that read 'S11', Ino felt her insides churn with apprehension, what did ANBU want _her_ for?

"Listen Ino, Genma is a hard nut to crack, but he is crackable," she said, deadly serious.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean..." she looked directly at Ino, then sighed, "I just mean that...Yuugao knows a lot about Genma, she knows what's good for him and she thinks _you're _good for him."

"Maybe, but it's Genma that's got to be convinced, not Yuugao."

"So you mean you would like him to think you were good for him."

"I...I..." she was getting flustered again, and confused, she'd never thought about this aspect of their relationship before and it was confusing all the other things she felt about him. "I never said that!"

"Ino, I really think – " but Ino never got to know what she really thought because the door to S11 was opening and Ino was being pulled inside by an unfamiliar man in standard Jounin dress.

"Thanks Akina," he murmured as the door closed.

At first a chill of fear struck Ino as she looked around the room and saw five ANBU seated at a long, rectangular conference table. Then she noticed that it was only Raidou, Genma, Shikamaru, Shikaku and another shinobi who she knew to be Ito Daisuke, the only slightly injured ANBU from Genma's last mission, and relaxed somewhat. But still she had no idea what they wanted from her.

The five of them looked at Ino in silence before breaking out into a flurry of negative remarks.

Daisuke tilted his head as he studied Ino quizzically, "I don't get it."

"No, no way," Shikamaru had crossed his arms from his position at the head of the table and was shaking his head as he said this.

"This is your amazing plan? Ino?" Ino was slightly disgruntled at this comment and narrowed her eyes at Raidou, "sorry Ino," he amended, "but you know what I mean." She didn't actually, she didn't have a clue.

"Oh come on, guys," the unfamiliar Jounin said, "it's not like any of you have come up with any better ideas."

"This is an _ANBU_ mission, she's a _Chunin_!"

"She's an adequate replacement for Inoichi, he wasn't an ANBU either."

"No, but he was a Jounin, he had experience and developed techniques and..."

"Alright, I know but it's the same principle, they're of the same clan, and besides, now we've got a medic." Shikamaru shook his head again.

"No." was all he said. The defeated and still unknown Jounin turned to Genma, the only one sitting around the table who had as of yet remained silent.

"Genma?" he asked, a hint of pleading to his voice as he invited him to give his view on the situation.

Genma looked up at the Jounin then down to Ino, studying her, watching as her eyes sought his, shining a deep, crystal blue, and her perfectly unmarred skin, the way her lips quirked upwards slightly in a smile at the attention he was giving her. Then he imagined the dangers of the mission they would be undertaking together, how cold her eyes could turn in response to the violence she might witness and how bloodied and marked her skin would go if the worst came to the worst. She was important to him, and he didn't mind that she was. Could he do his job properly knowing this might happen to her? Could be fight properly knowing she was in the fray as well?

"No," he said, finally switching his gaze back to the Jounin, "she's not appropriate for the mission." At which point Ino had had enough of their cryptic messages to one another and spoke for the first time.

"Wait a minute," she said, cutting across what the unknown Jounin was about to say, "what mission?" She turned to the only man in the room who was enthusiastic about her possible role in the mission, "why me?" But it was Shikamaru who responded, sighing exaggeratedly.

"It doesn't matter," he told her, "because we've all decided-"

"Hang on!" she exclaimed, "don't I get a say in it?" Shikamaru didn't answer her, just flopped back in his chair and glared at the Jounin.

"Now see what you've done," he muttered. Ino's glare was ten times worse than his had ever been.

"Alright, listen," Raidou said, sitting forwards in his chair and aiming his words towards Ino, "you know we fucked up the last mission?" Ino nodded, focusing on what he was saying, but she couldn't help her eyes from flickering sideways to Shikaku. You couldn't say 'fuck' in front of Shika's dad! _You're being childish_, she told herself. "Well this is us trying to sort it out," he said, gesturing between those sitting at the table, "Shikamaru's trying to give us a new strategy but really we need your dad to make it work."

"We need the mind transfer jutsu," Shikaku corrected.

"Right," Raidou nodded towards the elder Nara, "_Shintenshin no Jutsu, _we need it for everything to run smoothly, it _has_ to this time." Ino nodded.

"So you need me –"

"Or we could wait for Inoichi-san to recover," Shikamaru reminded, sounding very fed up of the whole situation.

"And wait how long?"

"As long as it takes," Genma told him.

"Or we could use Ino and get it out the way!"

"But she's a Chunin, she doesn't have the experience, she _can't _do it!"

"Hey," Ino exclaimed, angry eyes flashing at the young Nara, "I'm not an ANBU but I'm not useless! I _might_ be able to."

"No, it's too dangerous," she next turned her scowl on Genma, the speaker.

"I'm a ninja! My life's meant to be dangerous."

"You've not got the qualifications for it."

"You said you needed the Mind Transfer Jutsu! I mastered that when I was ten!" Genma sighed, "I did!" she insisted, "didn't I Shika?" she exclaimed, turning on the young Nara at the head of the table.

"She did," Shikamaru murmured.

"And if things go wrong?" Genma pushed, "What then?"

"I'm not an idiot," Ino glowered, "I'll do what I have to, I'll fight if necessary."

"And end up like your dad?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"Hey!" Ino exclaimed, but the exclamation had come from someone else as well. Ino glanced at Genma, the other who had spoken. "That was uncalled for," he told the young Nara, calmly. Shikamaru just shrugged.

"I can fight if I need to," Ino said, turning to the Jounin, "and I can perform the technique easily."

"We never said you couldn't," Raidou muttered, "but this mission will require nerves of steel, it could turn very ugly, very quickly."

"What is the mission?" Ino asked, she didn't even know if she wanted to do it yet, she just knew she didn't like how miniscule everyone's faith in her was, how little people she called friends thought of her as a kunoichi.

The men exchanged looks. ANBU missions were classified but then again it wasn't just ANBU who were in on it, her father for one hadn't been an ANBU and Genma was really only an oftentimes operative. Raidou was about the only full time one in the room as Daisuke was too young to have been one for very long and Shikaku preferred to stay in the Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

"It's an infiltration mission, in Wave country," Genma told her, apparently their looks had communicated it was alright to do so, "but it's more complicated than we thought, our target's got more informants and underlings that we expected. He's got some of the major companies working for him, ones that _appear_ to be his competitors."

"Major companies? What kind of companies?" Ino asked, sliding into a chair as she spoke.

"Shipping and manufacturing," Shikaku picked up, "swords, kunai, forbidden jutsu, all kinds of weapons. He sells some on to honest companies and we get them in our shops but he's crooked too, sells to rogue ninja and rebel forces for easy money." Ino nodded she could imagine the type. "His main base is in Wave, like Raidou said, in a small town called Kitakaku right in the North of the country, from there he can easily transport goods to the coast of Sound where there are lots of bored, unemployed ninja to pick them up and distribute them for quick money, he's got quite a successful scheme going on."

"So, he's a big time crook, why is ANBU involved?"

"Our target has decided to branch out into politics," Raidou told her, "he poses a threat to the stability of Wave Country."

"Stability?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow, "how stable is Wave Country?" - from what she'd heard not very.

"Wave has no hidden village, most of the countries without one are vulnerable and that creates instability," Shikamaru drawled, "but at the moment it's got a sound economy and there are lots of jobs going around in the shipping industries since it imports all the produce from Water, our target's wanting to shake that up, trying to weaken the mainland countries by cutting off their supplies, it's a threat to Fire."

"And not only that," Raidou sighed leaning back in his chair, "he's got enough rogue ninja employed to make an army, he's up to something he won't declare to the hidden villages and given his shady dealings in the past its bound to be something bad. Which is why we'd like to strike now before he can gather any more support, Wave's people are impoverished so they're open to new leaders who promise to sort out their problems."

"Like your target?"

"Exactly, he's rich and he's powerful and his influence has obviously spread further than we thought because we weren't expecting him to have mercenaries travelling in from the South."

"And they're the ones that attacked you?"

"No, not exactly, but they were the ones that raised the alarm about Inoichi and Shikaku, they seemed to be more aware of the movements of other countries and hidden villages." Ino nodded slowly.

"It makes sense since we have more connections with the south," Ino commented, thinking about how they sometimes imported the seeds and cuttings of exotic plants from the south of Wave. "So what would I have to do?" she asked, looking at Shikaku.

"Well you'd be the stand-in for Inoichi so you'd be pretty much in the thick of it."

"I'd be undercover?"

"Yes."

Ino thought hard for a moment, she'd been on undercover missions before but never one that everyone was taking so seriously, however she guessed a possible economic collapse was pretty serious, on top of whatever else this guy was planning.

"So what's the objective?"

"We want to get more information on what we're dealing with, and if it's necessary we'll have to take him down."

"Take him down? You mean like an assassination?"

"Yes," this was Genma answering, "is that a problem?" _Wouldn't you just love it to be_, Ino thought as she looked hard at the senbon chewing shinobi.

"No," she stated firmly, "it's not."

"So you'd do it?" the Jounin asked.

"No." Shikamaru asserted adamantly.

"Yes." Ino said, ignoring her team mate, "I'll do it."

"Hold on," Genma said, removing the senbon from his mouth and twirling it idly around his fingers as a means to counteract the cause of the stress lines forming on his brow, "don't _we_ have to agree to it?"

"_I've_ got to agree to it," said the Jounin, "and I agree whole heartedly, it'll be a learning curve for you all."

"It'll be a bloody suicide mission," Genma growled at him. Raidou sighed, stepping in before Genma's swiftly twirling senbon could _accidentally_ slip from his fingers and imbed itself into the Jounin's chest.

"Genma it might be a good idea."

"It's not." he declared.

"Well it might b-"

"It's not!"

"Just listen to me!"

"I've listened." Genma told him flatly, "And I'm not going to agree to it."

"Genma please," Ino murmured watching his eyes so intently that he couldn't look away, "I can do this," she told him quietly. Ino had so much experience persuading men to see her point of view – her father, her teacher, her team mates – that she didn't even have to think about making her eyes big and wide and crystal blue, they did it automatically.

_Oh fuck_, Genma thought, _she's doing that on purpose_, but knowing it didn't make her any less successful in persuading him.

Genma said nothing, but sat back in his chair, defeated.

"Excellent," the Jounin said, "Shikaku?"

"I _suppose_ it's alright with me."

The Jounin beamed, "Shikamaru isn't on the mission, he's just the strategist, you don't have a say, son." Shikamaru scowled.

"Thanks," he muttered dryly.

XXXXXX

Now Ino was in on the mission and they could go with one of their original strategies including the Yanamaka's technique, they relocated to the bar Ino was meant to meet Kaito in a few nights ago. She felt ten times better to be finally walking into it with Genma...even if he was very moody and they were followed by Raidou and a surprisingly attentive Daisuke (Shikaku and Shikamaru had to hurry home so as not to be late for their tea or Shika's mother would get 'just _too_ troublesome' – Shikamaru's words.)

It apparently wasn't just Ino who was noticing the enthusiasm Daisuke had for the enrolment of Ino to his team because Genma was skulking close to Ino and glowering at the young ANBU when, in Genma's opinion, he got too friendly. He was even so bold as to comment on it when their team mates had gone to get the drinks in.

"What are you doing that for?" Genma hissed once they were alone.

"What?"

"Flirting with Daisuke? He's eighteen!" Ino scoffed.

"I'm not flirting with him! It's not my fault if he likes me. And what difference does it make if he's eighteen?"

"He's a kid!" Genma insisted. Ino rolled her eyes.

"I'm only two years older than him, what's the big deal? Besides I wasn't flirting with him anyway! You're just in a mood because you didn't get your way."

"I'm in a mood because you're biting off more than you can even fit in your mouth never mind chew!" Ino stared at him incredulously.

"Firstly I'm going on this mission so you better get used to it! And secondly what I decide to do in my career is _nothing_ to do with you!"

"You think I'm just going to sit back and watch you get killed?"

"It's none of your damn business!"

"Well it will be my business if you _do_ end up like your dad."

"You've never even seen me fight! How the hell would you know anything about how I perform as a shinobi?" Genma didn't know how to answer his one, he didn't know how she performed as a shinobi, but what he did know was that if he could prevent her from being exposed to the inevitable violence of the up-coming mission he would, at all costs, which didn't register in his mind as quite the revelation it should have.

"I don't care," he decided on answering in a low hiss as a group of people walked past, listening interestedly to their conversation, then when they'd passed: "I'm not saying you _can't_ do it!" he said, "I'm saying I don't want you to, I'm not comfortable being in that situation with you."

"Why?" Genma chose not to answer and looked away, "Is this because we fucked?" Genma scoffed.

"Why the hell would it be?"

"I don't know, maybe you just think I'm a dumb blonde like all the others? Maybe you'll think I'll fuck it all up because I'm obviously one of those girly idiots that only thinks about boys and dresses!" Genma sighed irritably, "Well, you won't tell me why you're not happy with me -"

"It's because _I_ won't be able to do my job properly if I think you're in danger," he said, crumpling under the stress of her questioning and flopping back in his chair, "okay? It's not because I think you're a bad kunoichi and it's not because of anything we might have done together," _well it kind of is, _he thought as if they'd never got close he probably wouldn't be so vehement about not wanting her to be in danger, "It's because I care too much about you to put you in this kind of danger."

Ino was speechless for a while, staring her wide blue eyes at him, it unnerved him.

"W...you..." she couldn't decide whether to carry on being angry or feel flattered, maybe she should break out into that huge smile that was threatening at the corners of her mouth?

"I'm not comfortable with putting you right in the line of fire, I don't like to think that if you're harmed I wouldn't be able to save you."

"But Genma, _I'm_ a ninja too," she said, "I don't _need_ to be saved, I need you to work with me like you do everyone else. Raidou's your friend too but you trust him to look after himself, why can't you trust me?" _Because it's different with you_, he almost said but stopped himself knowing she'd ask 'different how?' which he didn't know the answer to, it just was.

"I know," he answered tiredly.

"I have to do this mission for me, so I know I can do it, and for my dad so I can kick the asses of whoever put him in hospital, can't you understand that?" He could so he nodded. "I didn't chose to be a ninja to be wrapped in cotton wool, you just have to trust me, I'm not a damsel in distress, I don't need saving."

"I know that," he said, "doesn't stop me from wanting to though." Ino didn't know how to answer, he was being unpredictable, or perhaps she didn't trust herself to answer? Genma didn't say things like this to women he slept with and he certainly wasn't meant say things like that to her. Her cheeks coloured slightly; what he'd said seemed so intimate and so out of character and it scared her that she absolutely loved it.

She slid up next to him in the booth and reached her arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss for want of a better response. She didn't know if this was the right thing to do because she could feel her heart beating a mile a minute, she could feel herself fall deeper into Genma and that was something she hated. However as soon as he responded to her lips she knew it most definitely was the right thing to do.

"You're cute..." she murmured against him, deciding it was definitely time to pull away before what he said and what he was doing got to her head, "but I'm still going on the mission." Genma sighed, falling back heavily against the back of the booth.

"Listen," he said seriously, "promise me you'll go home and think about it, if you still want to do it in the morning then that's fine but please think about what you're taking on."

"I have thought about it," Ino told him, "I've already decided."

"_Please_ Ino, think about this-"

"I _have_ thought about it! And I don't get why you're so against it!"

"I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Who says will? Maybe you'll get hurt!"

"It doesn't matter if I get hurt, it doesn't even matter if I get killed! There'll be others to replace me but you're not just a shinobi, you're a daughter and a best friend, you'll hurt others by getting _yourself_ hurt."

"And you think you getting hurt doesn't affect anyone?" Ino exclaimed, "you think Yuugao didn't sit by your bed, holding your hand and pleading with whoever was listening for you to wake up? You think _I _didn't sit there crying and trying everything I knew as a medic to make you better again?"

"I didn't mean that," he said coolly.

"You make it sound like I needn't have bothered!"

"I didn't mean that either," Genma said in an exhale, "I meant you've got a lot to live for and I've got slightly less to live for, plus if you are injured on this mission how am I going to tell your parents?" Ino laughed a dry laugh.

"That's what you're worried about? My parents?" Genma nodded, he was, it didn't sound funny from his point of view, he could imagine telling two people that their little girl had been stabbed in the stomach by a Wave ninja was no laughing matter. "Genma they know what I am, they allowed me to become a kunoichi to protect my village, to protect them! They'll understand."

"Or that's what the academy tell you anyway," Genma grumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just want you to think it through."

"Fine!"

"Good."

They didn't speak together much after that. Raidou and Daisuke came back with the drinks and set up a meaningless conversation even though they were meant to be discussing the mission. Ino sat quietly in the corner of the booth brooding about how weak everyone thought she was. She needed to go on this mission just to prove to them she wasn't as useless as they made her out to be.

Genma's eyes flickered to Ino every now and again, wondering if she was silent because she actually _was_ thinking things over or was she just considering all the different ways to inflict pain on him? It wasn't that he thought she was weak, it really wasn't but he knew there was little he could say to convince her otherwise. He couldn't _help_ wanting to protect Ino. He couldn't help it because she was Inoichi's little girl and that's what she'd been to him since the first time they'd slept together. But now, more importantly there were feelings and stuff that ran between them, 'feelings and stuff' being the phrase used in Genma's head, and it wasn't as if he had to delve very deeply into the 'feelings and stuff' to understand that she was important to him now, and 'important' was just the right word to describe her, he was glad he'd found that word before he got everything mixed up in his head, like he believed he'd done with Akina. But Ino had saved his life...probably, so it didn't scare him to think he wanted to protect her, men always had the urge to protect stuff, right? It was natural. It was nature, that was all.

"You coming to the party tomorrow night?" Daisuke asked Ino casually. Genma sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

"Course!" Ino told him, smiling at him with just a hint of suggestion, _not flirting my ass_, Genma thought grumpily, "Are you?"

"If I can, my girlfriend comes back from her mission tomorrow so it depends what she wants."

"That's a sad sight," Raidou sighed, "whipped by the missus and so young, too."

Genma smirked and relaxed back again, Ino wasn't the type to go near a man - a _boy -_ with a girlfriend.

"I'm not whipped!" Daisuke insisted.

"Whatever," Genma muttered,

"I'm not!"

"How old are you?" Genma asked.

"Eighteen."

"You should be playing the field not trailing after some girl."

Daisuke pulled a face. "Nah, I've never had the confidence for it."

"Sounds like a puffs excuse to me."

"Genma!" Ino exclaimed.

"What?"

"That was horrible!" It was quite a mean thing to say, Genma reasoned, especially since it was like ganging up on the youngest member of the group but he was in a bad mood, and the source of that bad mood was Ino anyway so she'd just have to deal with it.

"Horrible...and true." Raidou snickered at his friend behind his pint.

"You're such an asshole," Ino grumbled.

"And you're such a woman," Genma muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah? Well at least I'm not a sad old man, right Genma?" Ino said, anger dancing in her eyes.

"Whatever Ino." Genma said tiredly, pretending not to rise to the bait. Ino was the first and only woman he'd ever known who could really get to him and Raidou could see it by the darkening of his friends usually light brown eyes.

Tension descended upon their small group.

"Er – I've got to...go...home," Daisuke murmured, downing his drink and standing up pretty quickly.

"Me too," Raidou said, hurrying out of the bar after Daisuke.

Genma stared at the head of his pint of beer, angry that he's let Ino get to him but strangely not angry with _her_. In fact he found her quite funny, especially since when he snuck a look at her he found her scowling across the bar at the far wall, her fingers white where she was gripping her glass. He looked away and smirked.

"Are you jealous?" Ino asked shrewdly. Genma's eyes flickered to her then back to the surface of his drink.

"So what if I am?" The blonde's eyes narrowed.

"You're not jealous," she told him.

"No?"

"No, I didn't think the almighty player Shiranui Gemna got like that," Ino bit snidely.

"Maybe I just wanted you all to myself for the afternoon?" Again Ino gave Genma a sideways glance and saw he was smirking and to her horror it induced a slight twitch in her own mouth, she held back the smile.

"Now you're just sweet talking me," Ino huffed.

"Is it working?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"So if I asked you how Heaven was when you left you wouldn't crack a smile?"

"No."

"Or...what if I said you've got a great body? Would you hold it against me?" This time Ino couldn't help her lips broadening into a thin smile. "What if I said you were so sweet you were giving me tooth ache?" The thin smile spread into a grin.

"I'd say that the most god-awful thing I've ever heard," she told him, trying to straighten her grin.

"You're smiling," he murmured in a sing song voice turning towards her to return the grin.

"I'm not," she insisted.

"You are," he said, propping his elbow against the back of the booth and resting his head on his hand, "you _like_ the cheesy chat up lines."

"I don't!"

"You do!"

"How have you got me from being pissed at you to wanting to kiss you in the space of two minutes?" Genma shrugged. Ino smiled, unconsciously moving closer to him.

"It's a gift," he breathed, his warm breath washing over her face and making her feel all warm and silly. Ino's smile faltered, lost in the unfocused gaze of his hazel eyes on her face, his eyes darting from her eyes to her lips. She didn't care that they were sitting in a public place, she probably should have but it was the furthest thing from her mind.

When he kissed her she felt all the negative feelings she'd had towards him leaking out of her head and she hated how he could manipulate her so easily. It was dangerous, it was exactly what she did not want but she couldn't help herself, she'd devour his attention like a girl starved.

"I have to go," Genma mumbled against her lips in the second he pulled away from them, "will I see you tomorrow?"

"You'll _see_ me," Ino whispered, sealing their lips together again. Her hand slipped up his body, skimming over the faint outline of the muscles of his chest through his top then gliding over his cheek, supporting his face in her hands.

"But...will I have you...like this?" he asked, kisses punctuating his words, his greedy mouth swallowing her sounds.

She couldn't answer, her heart was pounding. She felt his hands sliding into her hair, pulling out the hair tie she'd tied it back with then raking his fingers through the soft, golden strands. Ino moaned.

"Is that a yes?" Ino's hands grasped the collar of his jounin vest.

"Yes!"

* * *

This week exam results complicated stuff! So I'm sorry if this chapter is bad and there are many mistakes!

Review if it takes your fancyx.


	13. Intensity

I think I hate this chapter! I've rewritten it bazzillons of times which is probably why it's out so late.

**Warning:** this is quite possibly the rudest thing you've EVER read...naww I was messin, it's pretty bad though! And it's got bad language in it! So be wary!

* * *

Genma lay sprawled on his mattress. He'd kicked his duvet off the bed long ago because it was just too hot tonight. Too hot. And too wet, since a light rain was falling into his bedroom through his open window and now his bare skin was moist, droplets of the spray collecting together to form visible beads of rain water that slid sideways down his chest as he breathed.

He couldn't remember when he'd shifted his vacant stare from the way the water moved on his body when he breathed to the slowly spinning ceiling fan just above his bed, the type that one could find in the slightly upper class seedy hotels on Fire's boarder with Sound. Genma had stolen the fan from such an establishment because he'd had a bad mission and the hotel owner wouldn't give him his room's deposit back. He'd got home and installed it himself, quite proud of his achievement until he discovered it didn't actually work properly, just spun ever so slowly round and round ever so often. What he had really wanted was the 2x4 meter mirror that had been set on the ceiling above the sleezy, red satin quilted bed but try as he might he couldn't get it off so the ceiling fan had to do.

Genma was thinking, hard.

So hard that he'd had to strip naked, lie on his bed and forgo his usual senbon for one of the cigarettes from Asuma's stolen packet; the cigarette was left undisturbed, burning away between his lips; he wasn't actually smoking it, just tasting it, besides simply having it balanced there still stirred in him the same boyish excitement that had curled around him the night he and Ino had stolen away to her apartment and spent a very indulgent night together. But it wasn't Ino who was at the forefront of his mind, it was Yuugao.

If Genma were a girl he guessed he say he felt 'hurt' but he wasn't so in turn he didn't classify the emotion as hurt. He struggled to think of a more masculine word for what he felt. The best he could think was that old favourite 'confused'; 'confused' covered a multitude of sins. To be confused about a women was not uncommon among men as it could mean anything from 'I've never wanted to hit a women before...but I do now' to 'life without you wouldn't be worth living' neither of which they could say without injuring their manliness, so confused they remained.

Genma was 'confused' because once he'd finally pried his lips off Ino's and reeled in his roaming hands with the utmost reluctance he'd hurried along to Yuugao's house, ten minutes late but resolved upon keeping their appointment.

Yuugao had met him at the door before he had even knocked, dressed in an oversized jumper and a pair of barely there shorts. She stepped out onto 'his' side of the door and closed it firmly behind her.

"Hey," she'd greeted, "I'm really sorry but I forgot you were coming," she told him fidgeting nervously with a strand of purple hair. Genma shrugged.

"That's okay," he said, expecting her to back away into the house leaving the door open for him to follow, like she usually did. However this time Yuugao didn't move.

"I...erm...I was just going to bed," she spoke, an edgy smile crossing her lips quickly to be replaced with the anxious down turning of one side of her mouth. From the corner of his eyes he saw Yuugao's dark blue curtains were drawn...and twitching slightly, his eyes narrowed.

"So?" It wasn't like it hadn't happened before, after all her depression had incarcerated her in her bed for the first few months of their friendship. He'd seen her in all states and situations; there was no embarrassment there.

"So...I'm tired, I had a really rough day," she murmured looking down at her bare feet and perfectly purple painted toe nails.

_Something's off._

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, just...I'm...I'm kinda...busy, right now," she mumbled, unable to look at his face.

Was she trying to tell him something, Genma wondered? Was it one of those women things where he was supposed to know and understand completely what was up with her without being told about it at all?

"I don't get it," Genma told her, his brows furrowed, "have I done something wron-"

"No!" she cried in exasperation, "Genma, I'm _busy_," she inclined her head towards her apartment door slightly as she accented 'busy'.

Oh _that _busy. The 'I'm-in-the-middle-of-the-most-amazing-sex-that-I-really-don't-want-to-be-interrupted-during' kind of busy.

"Oh, you want me to go then?"

"Well I don't want you to join in," she said, smirking at him. He tried at a smile but it didn't work, whichever way he looked at it she was blowing him out. His shitty day just got shitter. "Thanks Genma," she said, kissing him on the cheek before disappearing behind her door that shut with a resounding bang.

That's what had 'confused' him. It felt like Yuugao had shut him out, she'd got someone new, she didn't need him anymore. _She's just having sex_, his more rational side kept telling him, _and you're acting like a woman_. He _was_ acting like a woman and he knew that were his mood better he wouldn't have thought anything of it except probably 'go Yuugao', but he was in a crappy mood and just ready to complain about Ino and the mission all night to Yuugao. But instead he had been well and truly dismissed, so he'd gone home to brood and that's what he was doing now.

It was dark outside and he had no lights on in the house. It was melancholic which he supposed was just the right atmosphere for his mood. He wondered who it was there with Yuugao; was it someone he knew? Someone she was going steady with? Or just a one night stand? And then why hadn't she told him about it? Maybe it was someone she was ashamed of? Someone really young, or annoying or ugly or fat or short or...but before he could think anything more ridiculous the melancholy came back and he realised it didn't matter who he was because it didn't stop the fact that she was moving on.

He began thinking of all the times she might have been trying to hint to him that she didn't need him anymore, maybe that was why she was so supportive of Ino? He knew there was far too much speculation in it for him to draw any conclusions but it didn't stop him from imagining the worst.

At last he took a long drag on his cigarette and removed it from his lips, breathing in that luxuriously naughty taste of something he knew was doing his body no good, that and Ino. She'd be home alone as well he guessed and he wished he'd headed to her house after Yuugao's but he'd been too moody and they'd only end up fighting. It struck him that they did that quite a lot, and there was no where near enough make up sex for his liking. Not enough sex full stop actually; they were more friends with complications than friends with benefits. Complications like spiteful words from Rei and Ino telling odd things to odd people. He didn't even know if he really believed the excuse she'd given now he thought hard about it, something about it didn't fit. He didn't doubt that Kaito had been just a bit too forward and he didn't doubt that he may have been less that forthcoming when Ino pushed him away but why tell Kaito that _he_ was her boyfriend? Why _him_?

Now he was thinking _too_ hard. Yuugao confused him a lot less than Ino did.

He rubbed a stressed hand over his face. He did _not_ want Ino on this mission, to such an extent in fact that he had already thought of a devious plan to prevent her going. A plan which, if traced back to him, would result in his immediate demise. Or worse castration! He could just imagine Ino doing that, she'd do it deviously too, taking him to the brink and _then_ whipping out a kunai and cutting him free of himself...lovely. Why the hell was he mildly turned on? _I'm getting old and delusional_, he thought as he turned onto his side, stubbing out the cigarette on a plate next to his bed, even though it hadn't burned down to the filter.

_Yes_, he thought as he went over his devious plan in his head one more time, it would do nicely. He'd have to take a little trip to the hospital the next day and visit his good friend Inoichi, and if Inoichi happened to ask what had happened to him Genma would offer the truth to the best of his knowledge, and if he just so happened to ask about what was being done about the lingering threat of their target he'd again offer the truth, and if he ended up telling Inoichi that his little girl was going to be trekking to Wave Country to sort out the unruly business man – slash – politician, if that _just so happened_ to fall from his mouth and then Inoichi forbid his daughter from going on a mission that had previously got him almost killed, and then the young Yamanaka just couldn't say no to her invalid father and stayed behind, well, then that was just...what was he kidding? That was just emotional blackmail.

Maybe he would just have to get used to the idea of Ino coming on the mission with them? Maybe it was for the best that she did, for the 'greater good' or whatever? Maybe, and maybe not.

He had work all the next day at the Jounin HQ and so he wouldn't have time to go and harrass the higher ups to take Ino off the mission list. In the evening he'd just have to get so drunk he couldn't even remeber that _he_ was going on the mission, let alone Ino and then if he was lucky he could stumble into bed, maybe even with Ino herself, and savour her one last time...now he was just being rediculous but even so it still made his stomach churn unpleasantly.

Okay, not he was back on the 'tell Inoichi' plan.

Genma sighed as he turned in his bed again towards the window, gathering the duvet back onto the mattress and snuggling into it. Was it really worth emotionally blackmailing Ino? No, not really, she'd never touch him again and he wasn't ready to give up Ino-sex just yet. Besides, she _was_ a shinobi, he'd just have to trust her and try not to play her knight in shining armour; it struck him suddenly that maybe he wanted to a little bit. He wanted to keep her safe from harm's way. But that was just nature again, right?

XXXXXX

Ino had been working in her family's flower shop staring at a bunch of red, long stemmed roses when she decided she'd wear her red dress to the party tonight. Of course it would be going against what the great style guru Yumi had said but to be honest Ino had forgotten how to value her opinion quite so much as she once did. Besides she had pretty red underwear and Genma had said he had wanted to _see_ her. It still sent chills of excitement racing through her to think of it, of him, that she was the main focus of his attention. She probably wasn't, she knew that, and in fact the main focus of his attention probably switched a thousand times a day as different women walked by him but still it was nice to be acknowledged.

Ino had sauntered in to the bar that was to house Kiba's party late that evening with her red dress on. It didn't wash her out after all; Yumi could go and fuck herself.

The music was loud, the lights were dim and the alcohol was flowing, all expected by Ino as she entered the hired out bar. However what she did not expect was to see the brown haired Shiranui Genma sitting alone at the bar with ten shot glasses in front of him. Her eyes narrowed as he chugged back another glass, the third one, grimacing at the burn of whatever liquid it was that had scorched his throat. She watched him replace the senbon between his lips, heave a sigh and stare vacantly at the opposite wall. He looked like something was bothering him, and Ino was just about to make towards him when the shout of her name had her turning towards a group of her friends, the usual group comprising of the teams she had grown up with. With one last look at the dejected form of Genma she made for her friends' table and took a seat.

"Hi!"

"Hello."

"Ino pig!"

"Hey!"

"Yo," this was Shikamaru and sitting almost timidly on his right was Temari who made her quiet greeting of 'Hello Ino'. Ino offered a smile in her direction and got a cursory head nod of thanks from Shika.

The soft brush of fur against her leg followed by a wet snuffle on her hand alerted her to the large white dog that was now sitting up by her feet demanding her attention. Ino stroked his head fondly, wondering where his owner was.

"Where's the birthday boy?" Ino asked, getting comfortable in her chair and being handed a sake bottle by Sakura who grinned at her.

"He's gone off somewhere," she answered vaguely, "he was asking after you though..." she told her, raising her perfectly pink eyebrows.

"That so?" Ino asked, smirking as she took a swig from the bottle.

"Any idea why he'd be so interested in your whereabouts?" Ino didn't answer, she just smiled enigmatically at Sakura and took another drink.

"_I_ heard," TenTen murmured, leaning towards Ino and Sakura conspiratorially, "that you were having a sordid affair with Shiranui Genma." Several other faces at the table turned in her direction, Choji's eyes wide, surprised but also looking like he was ready to jump up, vault the table and pounce on Genma at any moment and even Shikamru came up for air to stare at his team mate. _Oh crap._

"G...Genma?" Ino mumbled, laughing nervously, "no, no...it...it wasn't a sordid affair – "

"Really? Anko sounded so sure! She told me that you were with Genma, like properly, but slept with Kaito because – "

"Kaito!?" Choji's knuckles were white where they clasped his bottle.

"No!" Ino said, trying to diffuse the situation, "no, it was a misunderstanding! That was all."

"You slept with Kaito?" Choji demanded.

"No!"

"You're with Genma?" Shikamaru asked.

"No!"

"But you _slept_ with Genma?!" Choji exploded.

"No...well..." but seeing the murderous look on his face she decided lying was the best option, "No, I didn't!" TenTen was staring backwards and forwards between the three team mates.

"You know that's really weird, because I heard – "

"So, TenTen," Sakura said loudly, "how's bagging Neji going?" TenTen looked to Sakura, then back to Ino, then opened her mouth, closed it, then answered Sakura's question. _Thank god,_ Ino thought even though when she glanced at her team mates; they were both gazing at her narrow eyed; Ino smiled a weak, thin smile and turned her attention to Sakura and TenTen, downing another gulp of sake.

XXXXXX

When the next shout of 'more drink!' went around Ino found herself stumbling to the bar to get them in, pleasantly surprised to find that it was a free bar that night courtesy of the Inuzuka family.

Ino looked down the bar noticing Genma still sitting there, still with a line of shot glasses in front of him, a new line presumably because he was busy downing the second shot. _Weird_, Ino thought and she was just about to wander over there to see what was up when someone stopped her in her tracks.

"You're looking very sexy tonight." The voice was smooth but had a quality that was sticky and gooey, like slime, and sure enough when Ino turned towards the source of the voice Kaito was standing – or more leaning – at the bar, a drunken leer on his face, a slur to his words and a drink in his hand. Now Ino had a dilemma, she'd love to kick his ass but she didn't want to be kicked out of the bar, and with the warm alcohol swirling in her blood she couldn't be bothered to get all flustered with him so she turned back to the bar, eyes fixed on how the barman was slicing a lemon and dropping them into glasses before pouring vodka over. She sensed the movement of his head as he cocked it sideways, regarding her that way, "Not talking to me?" he asked, a mock pout evident from the tone of his voice.

When he leaned in to brush the blonde hair from her shoulder she finally turned her eyes to him, jerking her arm back from his touch.

"Woah, woah, steady baby," Ino glared at him, wishing the bartender would hurry up; they didn't actually _need_ lemons in their vodka.

"Just fuck off, Kaito," was all Ino said, relocating slightly so she was out of his reach only for him to move closer, too much closer so Ino could feel the heat of his body on her exposed arm.

"Hey baby," he cooed, lifting a supposedly consoling finger to her shoulder and trailing it down her arm. Ino watched his finger move down her skin, a look of the utmost disgust on her face, "what's wrong? Don't you want it any more? You were hot for it the other night."

"Alright, just back off!" Ino hissed when his fingers slid under her dress's strap, lashing out a hand to knock his hands off her skin.

"You're not with Shiranui," he murmured, a lock of her hair catching on his fingers as he moved them to ghost down her back, "you lied," he slurred, "you have to make it up to me..." he moved in, his normally gorgeous eyes unfocused but directed to her lips.

"Stop it," Ino told him firmly when his arms came around her, "Kaito, let go."

"Why?" he whined, his breath fanning over her face, he _stunk _of alcohol, "we're just playing," he grinned a grin that was very almost sheepish, "you're really pretty up close," he murmured, a hazy smile flickering over his mouth.

"Thanks," Ino said tightly, trying to prize her arms from out of the drunk man's embrace and succeeding, "but just – no Kaito, stop," she ordered, pushing on his shoulders when he moved to kiss her cheek. "Kaito please – Genma!" The appearance of Genma on the scene did more to make Ino despair than it did relieve her; his eyes were wide and wild as he grabbed Kaito by the back of his shirt and hauled him off Ino, sending him crashing into a table at which the drinks – the glasses _and_ their contents - flew everywhere and sent up an angry shout from the people they flew all over.

"All right! Genma! It's okay! He's just drunk!" But Genma didn't seem to hear and instead he shoved the drunk and defenceless shinobi into the crowd, the muscles on his arms suddenly springing into definition with the movement. "Stop!" Ino cried as she grabbed Genma's arm, pulling him around to face her, "Genma he's drunk," she hissed at him, pushing him towards the bar, "he was just drunk," she murmured again when he turned to look at her, panting in harsh, adrenaline fuelled breaths

"He was touching you," Genma insisted, trying to turn back to lay into him again.

"I know, but stop it now," she hissed, pulling him back again.

"He needs to be taught a fucking lesson!" Genma ground out through clenched teeth, trying to pull Ino's hands off him.

What could she do to stop him? Genma beating up Kaito would do no good...not if he did it publicly anyway.

"Genma, not now," she murmured, planting a hand either side of his face and taking the plunge, hoping to god none of her team mates or sensei were watching or there _would_ be a bar fight that night.

The kiss didn't seem to take him by surprise but then again he was so smooth that even if it did he didn't show it. Ino felt his hands run over her hair before he pulled away, not even having tried to further their interaction with the addition of a tongue or wondering hands...not _too _much anyway.

"You'll get me killed, women," Ino heard him mutter as he turned back to the bar, leaning against its surface for support. Ino giggled.

"You'll get _yourself_ killed if you keep acting like that!" Genma huffed a half-laugh.

"He was touching you and you didn't want him to," he said, his voice still slightly breathless from the fight and then the kiss. Ino rolled her eyes, watching as the civilian bouncer hauled the ANBU captain onto his burly shoulder, winked at Ino and carried the unconscious Kaito out the bar. "Are you okay?" Genma was asking her when she focused her attention back on him. Again he had another line of shot glasses in front of him and was cradling the first one between his palms whilst the bartender was still busy pouring whiskey into the others.

"Are _you_ okay?" she countered, motioning her head towards his new line up, "you're doing shots? With whiskey?" Genma nodded twice.

"I'm old, Ino," he murmured, downing the whiskey shot once he's said it, "I remember my dad drinking whiskey," he said wistfully. Ino rolled her eyes.

"You're an idiot," she told him, bumping his shoulder with her own.

"Not..." he muttered, knocking back the golden liquid.

"Stop that," Ino ordered, laying an impeding hand on his when he went to pick up the next glass. Genma paused and studied her hand atop his for a moment before turning his over and interlocking their fingers. Ino smiled slightly, enjoying the interaction just a bit too much and longing for it to have the affection behind it she wished it did.

Genma sighed heavily, shifting his eyes away from their hands and to her dress.

"Red?"

"Red," she said, smirking at him. Genma cocked his head to the side.

"Red underneath too?" Ino huffed a laugh.

"You'll just have to wait to find out." Genma's eyebrow's rose; his fingers untangled from hers and slid over her slim wrist and up her arm.

"Will I?"

"If you're lucky...maybe." Genma slid his arms around her waist, pulling her against him, "That's a bold move," she warned him, "you know the last guy who tried to grope me at the bar got beaten around and thrown out." Genma shrugged.

"He was on his last strike anyway," Genma said nonchalantly, "besides he needs to learn there are some people you can't mess with."

"He's an ANBU captain; there aren't many people he can't mess with."

"He can't mess with me."

"He was messing with _me_, not you," Ino pointed out. Genma just shrugged again; Ino was his...what was she? Friend? Yeah, his friend, Kaito couldn't mess his friend's around, especially the ones that supplied him with pretty hot sex.

"You're looking beautiful tonight," Genma told her, eliciting the desired effect as Ino blushed, determinedly averting her eyes, she _hated _blushing! But this man was just the man who could induce it in her; she _hated_ that too! Genma chuckled and nuzzled her neck with his nose. "Are you blushing, Ino?"

"No!" she told him adamantly, pulling away to glare into his face. "I'm not!" Ino felt a hand wander down to her ass, the blush intensified.

"You would be if you could see what was going on in my head," he murmured. More blushing. More laughing from Genma. Until Ino shut him up, placing a finger on his lips and about to make a comment about how he should be a good boy when her sensei was around but he rendered her completely speechless when he took the finger into his mouth, sucking on it with languid strokes of his tongue. Ino snatched her finger back.

"Just shut up," she told him, making a show of wiping her finger on his shirt, trying to detract from the redness of her cheeks.

"No," he told her right back, "I make you blush, it's nothing to be ashamed of; it's quite cute actually." She hadn't noticed quite how close his face was to hers before and she wondered when he'd managed to position his body so close to hers. She didn't know how to react. She became quickly flustered and so resorted to snapping at him to try and mask it.

"Genma! You're such an – "

"Oi! Shiranui! Hey!" The two broke apart at the angry shout, staring wildly in the direction of the furious yell. Genma reacted first, grabbing Ino's hand and running for a door near the back of the bar; any door would do as long as he didn't get his head kicked in by an irate sensei.

All Ino saw was a cloud of smoke, a flash of dark hair, a flying cigarette ember before she was pulled off, stumbling in her high heels after Genma, her sensei's shouts fading into the background noise as they cleared the doorway and slammed the door behind them.

"Where're we going?" Ino asked as Genma pulled her down the corridor, female toilets on the left, male's on the right and straight forward a signless door; Genma pushed through the latter without hesitation and without answering. They ended up in another corridor which they followed around the corner.

Genma's back clashed against the wall as he paused for breath, dropping Ino's hand and leaving her watching him from the door.

"Your teacher...is going to fucking kill me," he panted, resting his head back on the wall behind him and breaking into a wide grin when he saw Ino laughing at him.

"And he hasn't seen anything yet," Ino pointed out, making Genma groan in despair. "But I guess if he's going to kill you anyway then there's no harm in committing the offence again, right?" Ino grinned as she stepped towards him, allowing him to pull her to him and lower his lips onto hers, their ordered drinks forgotten. His hands slid down her back, pushing her hips into his with a firm shove to her rear; she didn't protest, in fact she seemed to quite enjoy it, letting a small keening sound slip from the corner of her mouth to entice him further into her.

"Okay, if he finds us here I'll just tell him that," Genma murmured against her lips as he repositioned her back against the wall, before delving in anew and welcoming the feel of her soft lips and silky tongue that he'd got to know so well within the past week. He heard Ino giggle into his mouth, her hands fisting in his shirt then spreading out, palms down, over the muscular expanse of his chest, sliding over his throat and finally taking purchase in the soft, brown strands of his hair, pulling off the bandana he wore.

Genma's hands were moving, snaking over the material of her dress until they hit the smooth, firm clarity of soft skin at her thigh. A groan passed from his mouth into Ino's, a groan that was answered eagerly with one of her own as he deftly lifted her thighs to his waist in a movement so swift and skilled that it made Ino smirk.

"You've done that before," she panted to him, enjoying the feel of their warm breaths merging together in the tiny space of air that was between them. She saw a cheeky flash of white tooth from the wide grin he'd given her before he was on her again, pressing his lips down on her more insistently that he ever had before. She was drowning in him, smothered by him, and she adored it, loved every moment of it.

Her hands disengaged themselves from his hair to hold onto his shirt again as his slid up her warm skin, leaving their secure place of holding the backs of her thighs to grasp her at the waist. He braced her on the wall, pushing his chest so firmly onto her own that Ino felt the pressure crush down on her lungs until she was breathless, pulling his head back by his hair to take in a gasp of air before he kissed her again, fixated on making her lips as red and wet and swollen as possible.

Ino couldn't make out what his hands were doing, but they were moving again; every now and then she felt the warm brush of them over her shoulders or arms until a sharp downward tug on the flimsy material of her dress and a cold gust of air on her chest alerted her to what he'd done. He kissed to the edge of her bra, groaning as his cheek brushed against her curve of her breast.

"That was such a good choice," he commented, staring at her red and black bra. Ino quirked an eyebrow, running a hand through his hair. "Although...I was sort of hoping for the sex pig set." He smirked. Ino deadpanned.

"Genma, you had me hanging on your every word up until _that_ point." But he pressed his smirk against her lips, distracting her completely from his teasing. Ino moaned as he ran his hands to her shoulders, his fingers slid under her bra straps, slipping them down slowly, exposing her pink tipped breasts to whoever decided to pass by.

"Genma," Ino whispered, turning her head sideways.

"Hm?" He moved her face back with a gentle finger on her chin and kissed her lips, producing a smacking sound that was terribly sexy.

"Stop," she mumbled, even though he could feel her hands fisting in his shirt, her nails lightly scraping over his skin.

"You don't want me to stop," he murmured into her hair. Ino smiled, her cheeks colouring; she _didn't_ want him to stop.

"Here? You want to do it here?" she panted.

"Here," he whispered in clarification, "exciting, isn't it?" He turned her face and kissed her deeply, sliding his tongue into her mouth and adoring the way she reacted to him.

He felt Ino's legs lock around him and he took this as her form of consent.

Genma gazed up into her impossibly blue eyes, becoming captivated by her wide, dark pupils, dilated until it almost appeared her whole eye was black, and pulled back to stare at her some more. Her lips turned upwards slightly; a shy smile that matched her wide-eyed, innocent stare. But he knew her, intimately, and she was so _not_ innocent. And as if she knew his thoughts her hips flexed into his, her pelvis meeting him with a delicious amount of friction and pleasure.

Genma smirked at her, searching in between the two of them, clasping her hands in his and bringing them up against the cold, solid wall behind her head as she began a slow, grinding onslaught on his body.

"You're going to have to stop doing that," he murmured breathlessly, to which she only smirked. He kissed her lips once, then immediately began trailing urgent, open mouthed kisses down the expanse of her cheek then over her jaw and neck.

Ino sucked in air in needy pants, her chest heaved under his bent form which was now working on a love bite near her collar bone. She could feel her nipples brush against his hard chest with each inhalation but the feeling wasn't enough, she wanted more, and so arched towards him under his lips, hoping this conveyed the need for urgency.

His hands met hers on the wall, entwining his fingers with hers whilst a groan ripped from deep within his throat, it was low and delicious and sent a thrill of pleasure racing through her undulating pelvis.

"Ino," Genma murmured into her skin, "I need to be inside you." But she could hardly hear him, listening didn't seem important to her when she was grinding her sensitive flesh against him; she was getting so hot and so wet that she didn't care what he was saying to her; it was probably just his habitual bad language and dirty talk anyway.

"Hmm..."

"Ino, I need to be – " Genma froze, his body snapped taut against Ino. Ino gazed at him through hazy eyes, noticing how his face was angled to the side and his eyes were attentive and trained on one spot on the floor.

"Genma? Wha..." but Genma smothered her mouth with a hand, the other going down to steady her quivering hips.

"Listen," he hissed and sure enough when she listened she could hear footsteps, footsteps and voices. _He's not a shinobi for nothing then_.

"Crap," she muttered, gasping in breath, "what should we do?"

"Quiet," he murmured, listening to the noises getting closer, listening to Ino's breath coming out faster, she was getting turned on by this. Genma looked at her, finding her face flushed, her eyes half lidded; she was a vision of sexuality, the most mouth watering vision he'd ever seen.

Genma slid a hand between them, to the apex of her thighs, finding it deliciously warm and wet.

"Ino," he breathed against her lips, "is this turning you on?" She didn't answer but she grabbed his face, smashing their lips together. Excitement spiralled through them both, charging in the air around them, making their movements frantic and careless; neither cared, they were so passed caring.

The door opened with a bang as it hit the wall; the two startled barmen stared wordlessly for a second watching the couple in front of them before their minds kicked into gear.

"Oi! You can't do that in here!"

Ino couldn't remember how it had happened but in the blink of an eye they were running, or rather Genma was pulling her after him, down a corridor, through a door, through another.

"Genma!" Ino panted, hurrying to keep up with him as he weaved their way through the crates and metal shelves stacked with cardboard boxes in the back room they'd stumbled across, "where are we going?"

But despite her protestations Ino had never felt more alive in her life. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her lungs straining against oxygen deprivation and she just didn't care. Every cell of every tissue of every organ in her body was humming with energy and it was such a powerful feeling that she wondered briefly if anyone had slipped something other than alcohol into her drink. But she knew this feeling wasn't artificial, it wasn't drug related or temporary and it wasn't alcohol induced, just alcohol aided: it was love and lust and Genma and they were a powerful combination. Ino knew the feeling wouldn't go away with her hangover, it would still be there in the morning; that terrified her.

Everything about the encounter was so messy and so drunken and Genma wasn't so drunk that he couldn't comprehend this, but he didn't try to remedy it as he usually might try to. Ino didn't care anyway; she just clung onto him as they stumbled around the store room trying to find a solid surface to brace themselves on so he could slide into her.

He'd left his wallet at his table, he suddenly realised. He didn't have any condoms on him. He didn't care. He didn't care that it was terribly bad sexual etiquette for him not to provide the protection and he didn't care that he didn't care.

She moaned into his mouth as her back slammed against a wall. No, he certainly didn't care.

Ino removed her hand from the material of his shirt and slid it down his body just as his came up to considerately cushion her head against the harsh, stone wall. Her hand stuck on something at the top of his trousers which her fingers identified as the warm, smooth metal of his belt's buckle. She undid it, one handed, not even giving herself time to revel in her achievement before she made her next move; she desperately wanted to feel him, to feel what she did to him.

She felt Genma's sharp intake of breath against her face as her hand disappeared beneath the waistband of his trousers; she didn't think he'd even realised it when she'd undone his belt.

By the time he was free and Ino's hands was sliding down his shaft he was aching, aching where she was touching him, desperate to be one with her. It was the all consuming thought that was spiralling in his mind; he had to have Ino, and pretty soon too.

But the ache wasn't wholly centred at his groin, it was in his chest too, interfering with his breathing so that every breath he breathed in was Ino, her scent and her sounds, her presence. And as she lowered her long legs to the ground and began pulling up his shirt to leave a mischievous trail of saliva coated kisses down his stomach the ache only intensified...in both places and he tried to focus on how she was making the ache go away.

What _was_ that niggling in his chest? It _hurt!_ It wasn't pleasurable in the slightest, not like in his straining member.

It was distracting; it was the extremity of one of those 'confused' emotions that he couldn't identify.

"Stop," Genma murmured in response to his annoyance.

"Hm?" But his hands were tangling in her now shambolic confusion of blonde hair and he wasn't letting her up anyway. Ino didn't think he wanted her to stop.

He didn't. He could feel her moist breath on the taut skin above his underwear and he loved it. Just the sensation itself sent tingles of anticipation shivering across his skin.

Her lips touched the thick head of his cock, tentatively, feeling its hard ridges against her tongue. Above her Genma groaned a long low call of 'Ino' and fell back against the wall, his hips flexing reactively as her tongue slid down his length.

"...feels so good..." Genma panted, fisting his hands in her hair, clenching and unclenching his fingers and feeling the soft, silky locks gliding over his fingers. He moaned again, so high on the feeling she was giving him, _Ino_ was giving him. Yamanaka Ino, the one and only; the most beautiful, most extraordinary, most amazing woman in the world to Genma at that moment. He felt her tongue slither all the way down him, down to where her hand was holding him at the base before sliding her hand up over his length to bestow small, wet kisses where her hand had been.

Ino felt Genma's nails rake over her scalp, felt his hip push against her, urging her to take him deeper and felt his moans and groans vibrate through her deliciously. She loved doing this too him, it was so sinful and so wickedly pleasurable

"Ino stop," he growled, his voice coming out hoarse and guttural. Ino stared up at him, blue eyes enticing him without even meaning too.

_I should never have started this_, he thought in that moment. It was clear to him something was happening that was way beyond his control, and since it was way beyond his control he was helpless to prevent himself from lifting her up from the floor and delving a hand into her underwear, finding her slick flesh and manipulating it until she was whimpering and moaning, until he had her just as she'd had him.

"Genma," she groaned, her hands sliding down to his sex.

"What do you want Ino?" he panted, his skilled fingers stroking her into a frenzy.

Ino didn't answer, unless he could call her whimpers and groans an answer. He wanted to hear the answer, desperately needed to hear it.

"Ino..." he hissed, "t...tell me...tell me you want me." He knew he shouldn't have said it as soon as he had.

"Genma," she gasped, "I want you...so...much." A shiver crept over him.

"Say...say you need me," he couldn't stop himself now, he was so intoxicated by her.

"You know I do," she moaned, "I need you, Genma!" _What comes next?_ Ino wondered; she wanted him, she needed him, she...she loved him?

She needed him. She did. She'd just said it. Yuugao and her new boyfriend didn't matter anymore because Ino needed him, she needed him and wanted him and she...and she...

"Say...say you – "

"Genma I can't...can't do this," she gasped, using all the strength she possessed to push him off; he was so weak with arousal that he slid away from her easily, stumbling backwards until he found a metal shelf to brace himself on.

"Can't...?" he began to ask but didn't finish, there was no point; everything had suddenly got weird, things had begun to change and neither were comfortable. It was a strange attraction and repulsion happening simultaneously.

"It's too much," she told him, "too intense." He understood. He understood completely. Genma laid his head against the wall, catching his breath.

In that moment he realised that there was no guilt; he'd felt up a beautiful woman in a store room – not just a beautiful women but _Ino _- and he felt nothing, in fact it wasn't that he felt nothing, it was that felt light and happy and free. There was no urge for more, for something bigger, something better or someone prettier or taller or smaller or older or younger or dark haired, it was everything and it was here. Everything and nothing.

Her eyes were positively twinkling and they were so wide and _so_ blue!

Ino was terrified. _I love you, I love you,_ it ran through her mind over and over and she bit her bottom lip just to make extra sure that some alcohol induced urge did not allow it to slip out. He couldn't know. He could never know and she'd just have to get over it again. _I'm drunk!_ She told herself, _I'm not in love! I'm just drunk!_ She wasn't just drunk.

They had been staring at each other for ages, each panting in breaths and trying to ignore the urge to throw themselves at the other, despite everything.

Ino looked away first, _what the fuck is going on?_ she wondered frantically. The air was static like at any moment a lightning storm would cut through the murky, damp roof of the back room and put into images the electric feelings humming around them.

She didn't like it. In fact she hated it. She could feel the words vomiting from her throat.

"I...I..." Ino saw panic cross Genma's face. The ache in his chest almost reached a crescendo, he could feel his heart pounding, each beat sounding out her name over and over to his alcohol confused brain. _Ino, Ino, Ino_. "I...I have to go." Ino pushed off the wall and ran, righting her bra and dress as she fled, not looking back at Genma once, not seeing him slump down the wall into a pile of 'confusion'. _What the fuck is this?_ He wondered, watching as the opposite wall blurred out of focus for a second.

He needed to get with someone. Someone who was absolutely un-blonde and had absolutely un-blue eyes, someone older than him: someone who certainly wasn't Ino. He felt smothered in her, her taste in his mouth, her lip-gloss mingling with what was her own in _his_ mouth, her sighs in his ears, her scent around him, something store-bought mixed with musky female arousal, the brush of her skin against him leaving him warm; he was warm all over. He couldn't control the waves of sensation crawling all over him, tides of emotion crashing into one another, and it terrified him, this had never happened to him before, but what terrified him more was that he loved it. He loved all of it.

His heart was thumping as at last he staggered out of the store rooms and into the men's room and all but fell into one of the cubicles. He told himself he must have drunk too much as he sat on the floor next to the toilet bowl. He told himself he would be sick because he'd drunk so much. He told himself that maybe someone had spiked his drink, or maybe he'd been drugged? He hadn't and he knew it because he could see straight, he was thinking straight, and that feeling that hummed through his veins? That unidentifiable feeling that he was drowning in? It could be explained by the simplest of three letter words: Ino.

XXXXXX

There was a girl by the bar, she wasn't blonde - that was good - and her hair was long, long and _brown_. He couldn't see her eyes but hoped they weren't blue. He sauntered over, trying to calm his heart which was thumping like crazy, trying to calm the weird sensations thrumming through his body, trying not to think of Ino, trying so hard not to.

"Hey," he murmured as he leant on the bar, slipping a senbon between his lips. He was looking at the bartender when he said it but it got the girl's attention. She looked at him, thinking at first he'd been greeting her. He felt her study him, her eyes ghosting over him and he waited, biding his time until she was studying him enough for it to seem acceptable for him to think she was checking him out. He turned his head to her. _Blue eyes...damn!_

"Hey," she murmured. That was a surprise; he had expected to have to goad her along. She was older than she appeared at first but she had make up covering the fine lines around her eyes and, when she smiled, her mouth; she was probably around his age, give or take a few years and one surreptitious glance at her hand told him she was married, but she was drinking alone and she was very attractive facially, her physique was thin, a bit too thin, and it had flattened out her breasts but she was elegant and her clothes were the best; she was the typical picture of a women who'd married for money when she was too young and was now feeling the strain; Genma could recognise the type pretty well by now.

Genma smiled lackadaisically.

"Hey," he said, sounding much calmer than he actually felt.

"Enjoying the party?" _You have no idea_, Genma thoughts, images of creamy, luscious thighs, the round curve of full breasts and the wet redness of a kiss stained mouth, all belonging to Ino. He shivered slightly.

"I'm enjoying it a lot better now," he said softly. It was cliché. It was a nasty tacky thing to say but this woman was up for it anyway and the clichéd charm would amuse her. Sure enough she giggled, lifting a diamond ring-ed hand to her mouth.

"That's a big rock," Genma commented, nodding to the huge diamond on her finger; the sooner she conveyed her want to cheat on her husband the faster they could get down to it. The woman nodded.

"I guess something good had to come of that marriage." Genma raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise, but he wasn't surprised; how many times had he seen this before?

"Well, that's a shame," he muttered.

"What is?" she asked, shaking her head gently to accentuating the loose curls that bounced lightly at her shoulders.

"It's a shame for a man to waste such a beautiful woman." The women blushed, then smiled, then opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, then blushed again. She turned to him, her blue eyes suddenly shining pleasantly.

Her hand slipped around his neck and as it moved Genma caught a flash of red from her nail varnish, it reminded him of Ino with a sickening churn of the alcohol that sat in his veins. Her mouth was suddenly close to his ear, he could almost feel her lips touching him, red painted lips, as red a her nails, as red as Ino's dress, as red as Ino's ruby red bra and small transparent panties, as red as Ino's lips went after he'd abused them with his aggressive, passionate kisses..._don't go down that road._

"I've got an apartment," she whispered in his ear, "pretty close by, my husband doesn't know about it." A thrill of accomplishment ran up his spine. The woman moved back, staring into his eyes; she looked professional, she looked elegant, she looked sophisticated; the very type of women that scared the shit out of Ino, it made him smile, Ino had no idea at all how lucky she was to be exactly as she was. This woman's blue eyes were enquiring an answer and as she looked at him Genma felt her hand smooth down his abdomen and reach the top of his trousers before gently brushing against the material between his legs, material that was pulling taut because of his erection.

They were _definitely_ on the same page.

"Let's go," Genma told her. The process had actually proved to be quite therapeutic, just as he'd hoped; whatever had happened before could be forgotten about for a while whilst he turned his attention to this woman, this woman whose name he didn't even know.

They walked to her apartment which was situated in quite a nice part of town. The house itself was bare, which was to be expected since her husband didn't know about the house but the minimalist white walls and stark black furniture was kind of weird and scary. It was a far cry from the jumble of purple, pink, blue, red, yellow, orange, green mismatch of stuff that lay in wait at Ino's house.

He crawled onto the bed, enticed by the woman in her black lacy suspenders that held up the opaque black stockings she still wore, but apart from that she was naked and ready for him, welcoming him with thin, open arms. Her skin pulled tight over her hip bones and ribcage, so much so that Genma considered suggesting some food play but thought better of it; the last time he'd played with chocolate moose it had ended up all over the bed...and him...and Akina...but the point was the silk sheets they lay on must have cost thousands. They were grey; grey silk and felt cool against his skin and allowed him to slide the woman beneath him effortlessly. He'd like to get some of those himself. He'd like to _play_ with Ino on sheets like that but then again more than that he'd like to lick chocolate moose off her, like her to lick chocolate moose off _him_ and so his old sheets would have to stick around for a while.

It made him calm to think of Ino this way because it was sexual, purely sexual. He hoped she was becoming a being of sexuality to him again, that and _only_ that. Raw sexuality. Nothing confusing. Nothing to interrupt the flow of his life. Just sex. _Just_ sex.

XXXXXX

Ino found Kiba sitting on one of the sofas at the opposite end of the bar and to say they'd launched themselves at each other was no overstatement.

Within two minutes of their hellos they were sucking each others tongues and groping each other in such a frenzy that to on-lookers it sort of looked like they were engaged in some sort of combat. Needless to say other people just stayed away.

"You're so fuckin' fine," Kiba growled, sending a pleasurable shiver racing up her spine. He was arousing her so much, reheating her after the Genma fiasco, and she was just beginning to seriously consider that she could easily project her mixed up feelings onto this man when he suddenly went lax against her, his head tilting backwards onto the sofa's cushion and his arms falling down to his sides.

"Kiba?" but he was dead to the world. "Kiba is this a fucking joke?!" It wasn't a fucking joke; he really was passed out.

Wandering over to the bar Ino wondered if the gods were watching her and laughing. She'd fallen in love with the most unobtainable man in her village, her second choice for the night had just passed out on her and...and...was that Jirou at the bar?

Well so it was. _Last chance Ino_, she thought, readying herself to finally live up to her player status.

"Hey," he murmured as she arrived beside him, smiling lopsidedly at her. Ino slid up next to him, as close as she dared to go, trying to convey her silent plea of company, nice, straightforward, _just sex_ company. He seemed to get the message. "Wanna pick up where we left off?" Ino smirked, answering him by slipping her hand in his and heading for the door.

XXXXXX

It turned out Jirou lived in quite a nice part of town. Ino didn't see much of his apartment that night because their main activity was centred, unsurprisingly, in the bedroom. What was surprising, however, was that for all Jirou's talk to the other shinobi about his bedroom antics and his partners 'screaming all night' as Genma had told her, he was a very compassionate lover. He was slow and gentle but firm in his actions. He was never teasing or cheeky. His bedroom talk was comprised of tender words whispered against her ear, telling her she was 'amazin'' and 'a goddess'. He provided for her entirely, making sure she reached orgasm before worrying about his own. It was all very...nice.

All in all he was a lovely lover. The sex was lovely, that was exactly the word to describe it and so as Ino lay there afterwards when he was long asleep and considered that she just _may_ have preferred the cheeky, foul mouthed, high energy, out of control, power struggle approach to sex she despaired. How had Genma ruined her like this? How had she ever thought that he was a good idea?

_Oh god_, she internally groaned lying in a foreign bed in the dark, _I'm the biggest slut ever!_

She felt no better about Genma and she was raging mad at Kiba for falling asleep on her – she envisioned that Kiba would be up for rough, animalistic sex which made her feel even worse because she could categorically say that she liked it that way. She liked things done Genma's way.

Things had just got a lot worse.

* * *

Well didn't that get a bit steamy? I hope it was steamy and not just like a big, cold, soggy wet flannel, you know?

And that's certainly not the last time we'll see Kiba! Hurray! He'll have his kecks off soon :)

I hope that was okay. Sorry for mistakes and stuff, this chapter kicked my ass! I guess chapter 13 was unlukcy for me! Hurray! I may go over it again because I'm so unhappy with it but I wanted to update so I posted it :S sorry if you're OUTRAGED.

Review!...if you have the time x.


	14. Niceties

Ewww college has started! Nasty.

**Warning: sexual stuff and language **aaallllsssooo this chapter has my absolute pet hate in it - Japanese named food; because no one knows what it is! Anyway my sources tell me - and by that I mean google :P - that its typical breakfast so if it's not then blame google :)

Enjoy! And review!

* * *

When Genma woke up that morning he was sure he was in bed with Ino; his sleep deprived, hungover mind couldn't comprehend why he would be in bed with anyone else. He could remember drinking whiskey all night, and that accounted for the foul taste in his mouth and the ache in his head; he could remember fumbling around with Ino in a store room, and so that accounted for the female body lying curled on her side away from him. Genma smirked at the memory, remembering how insane they'd made each other and how ready he'd been for her. He recalled the ecstatic chills that she'd produced across his body, underneath his skin as well as over it. Logically, then, he was in bed with Ino.

The world felt happy and light, and he could feel the sun warming him as it shone through the window's white curtains and made the smooth, pale back in front of him warm as well, and inviting to touch.

Without thinking Genma ran his hand over the soft, white skin in front of him and placed small kisses upwards along the curved spine that jutted out from the perfect flesh.

"Ino," he murmured against the woman's shoulder blade, each kiss becoming more wet and lingering than the last. He wanted to make her shake and tremble again like she had last night, he wanted to hear her sounds in the air around them and create that electric feel that had crackled in the space between them in the store room. Curls of excitement wound in his stomach as he thought of it. Maybe he'd make her coffee again and this time perhaps they could get through lazy morning sex without arguing, but first he wanted a good morning kiss.

Genma placed a warm hand on her shoulder, ready to turn her over and wake her up to the feel of his lips on hers but as his tired eyes opened to cat-like slits to study her sleepy face he got a very big surprise indeed, quite a nasty surprise.

He actually recoiled from the shock, sitting bolt upright in the bed making the cover pool at his waist and slip off the woman's thin form. _Holy fuck!_

Genma stared at the woman, at her dark hair, tiny frame and then the glinting gold ring on the night stand.

Oh yes, he remembered now. He felt his heart literally sink in his chest with disappointment.

He remembered picking this woman up at the bar after Ino had run away. Why had she run away again? Oh yes, he remembered that now too; she'd said everything had got too intense. But everything _had_ got too intense with Ino the night before, worryingly intense. He felt like last night's encounter was different from others, like it was three dimensional whilst all his others had been two dimensional; really he didn't have a clue what had happened, _what the hell is a three dimensional encounter anyway?_ he wondered, _and why the hell was I having one with Ino?_

Ino was a lovely girl; she was intelligent and she was caring and she was really, really hot but so were a lot of other people he'd slept with. He didn't have a clue why he'd suddenly decided to demand she parrot needy murmurings in his ear and he didn't have a clue why it had sounded so good when she'd said them, that she wanted him and needed him.

_Maybe it was just because of what happened with Yuugao?_ was the next question he pondered upon. Perhaps he'd just projected his feelings of rejection from Yuugao onto Ino, perhaps he just wanted to feel wanted and needed and...and that other thing. Genma didn't think about 'that other thing' because Ino had stopped him from saying it anyway so he told himself it was nothing to worry about. It was a slip of the tongue. A rogue thought in a passion fogged brain; it reflected nothing of what he really wanted. Besides she'd pushed him away before he'd said it, she didn't want him to say it, but why? If she was just in it for the sex wouldn't she have said it anyway then laughed it off later? Or was she worried that he wanted her to love him and she couldn't love him? Both answers didn't seem to fit and made him feel..._confused_ and the latter sort of made him feel offended.

However he didn't know whether he was entitled to feel offended that she couldn't love him. Maybe there was a selfish bit inside himself that wanted her to be able to love him, wanted her to fall in love with him to prove to himself that he was as good as the others she'd fallen for? No, definitely not. He wouldn't do that to her and it disgusted him that he'd even thought of toying with her feelings to massage his own ego.

Maybe he was just reading too much into it?

But now he was back to the beginning, why had he wanted her to say it? Why had she definitely not wanted to say it? For now he decided to take it at face value: she didn't love him so didn't want to tell him something that wasn't true, and he had just been feeling neglected and wanted to pretend for a while, that was all.

Besides there were far too many 'maybe's and 'perhaps's to be sure of anything. Things would work themselves out; they always did, that was the way he liked to live his life, so why did he have a feeling that this would be the exception that proved the rule?

He realised he'd been sitting in the stark, white bed next to the nameless woman staring at the ceiling, imaging his slowly spinning ceiling fan was there helping him think, but it wasn't so he got up, collected his clothes silently and left the room.

XXXXXX

Ino woke up because the sun was streaming through the windows and disrupting the dark cocoon of sleep she'd wrapped herself in.

"Eurgh," she groaned as a rush of alcohol abuse related pain smacked her right between the eyes. She sat up and got her bearings, accidentally knocking Jirou's arm off her body from where it had been laying in a half-hug across her chest. Jirou lay next to her on his front, one arm hidden under his pillow and the other splayed out in the space Ino had just vacated. He was absolutely dead to the world and had the used condom packet stuck to his forearm; it would have been the epitome of a vision of a job well done if Ino were not feeling so guilty. Guilty about what she didn't know, just guilty.

She got out of the bed, easing her feet onto the thick beige carpet then scrunching the soft wool between her toes; the pay for ANBU captains must be really good for him to be able to afford a place like this.

The clock on the bedside table read 5:39; she guessed she should leave then.

Ino slid slowly off the bed and straightaway into her red panties that lay crumpled by the bedside. Her dress she found in a similar state by the door, her bra in the lounge and shoes in the hall. She spent a little time trying to make herself look respectable in the mirror by the front door but gave up; hopefully not many people would be around at this time in the morning and her apartment wasn't too far away, so she stepped out of the door making sure to close it as silently as possible.

She sensed someone was there before she actually saw them and her hand tensed on the door handle. For one she had make up smudges on her face and her blonde hair was a mess! Secondly she was still wearing her red dress and it was sitting at the wrong angle on her shoulders, making it very noticeable that she had no bra on which was instead bundled in her hand with her shoes, _and_ she was in a really nice area of Konoha..._shit_.

Ino turned slowly.

_Well isn't this just the coincidence of the century?_

Ino blinked, taking in the scrumpled shirt, messy brown hair, wide, sleepy brown eyes and the senbon glinting in the sunlight as it protruded from two very familiar lips.

Genma recovered from the strangeness first; it certainly was sobering to see Ino's dishevelled and thoroughly sexed form coming out of Jirou's expensive apartment. He began to scowl without meaning to.

"Hey," he murmured lightly. Ino didn't say anything for a moment; she was still blinking at Genma in the sunlight.

"Hey." _What the hell are you doing here?_ "I...er...I didn't know you lived around here."

"I don't," Genma answered, studying the door behind Ino with malice, "only in so much as you live _there_," he murmured, motioning his head to towards the hated door.

"Oh." _Ouch, that hurt._ Ino didn't know why it hurt to hear he'd spent the night with another woman, but it did. It hurt her pride most of all and left her with a nasty hollow feeling and wondering to herself: _could he really forget about me so easily?_

He could, apparently. It didn't even enter her head to think that he would be wondering the exact same thing. He'd put on one of the best shows of his life and she hadn't spent the night walking around in a daze wishing he would return to her?

It was shocking! Really!

Instead she'd slept with Jirou, the stupid ANBU captain; he'd seen her naked, touched her skin, slowly stripped the underwear that _he'd_ picked out off her body. Maybe he _had_ made her scream all night? Maybe he was as good as he claimed he was and Ino would be back for seconds? Maybe Jirou was – dare he think it – even better in bed that himself?! An irrational anger bubbled under the surface.

Then again he'd just caught her running away from Jirou's apartment at quarter to six in the morning; maybe Jirou was bad in bed after all? That thought brought far too much happiness to him. He was jealous, mad jealous, and Ino was hardly any better; though Ino was a girl so she would say she was hurt; she was hurt that he had gone with someone else, hurt that their encounter the other night obviously had meant nothing to him since he'd been able to brush it off so easily. She never thought he'd feel exactly the same.

Neither thought of the awkwardness of the night before. Neither even considered _why_ they hadn't furthered their antics in the store room to full blown sex, or why they'd sought out alternative partners in the first place; that didn't matter at that moment, all that was important was the jealous urge to make the other wish it was them who'd they had spent the night with.

They'd been staring at each other again. Genma shifted uncomfortably and looked away first, trying to work the frown off his lips; being openly angry wouldn't help, it would only make things worse. _Just play it cool_, he told himself, _act like you don't care and everything will work itself out._

His stomach growled and he squinted at the view of the village from his vantage point wondering if that nice little café just around the corner from their location would be open this early. He made for the steps.

Ino watched as Genma began to walk away, vacating the scene of the crime before his victim woke up. Was he mad at her? He hadn't even said goodbye. For the first time it slunk into Ino's mind that perhaps he was a little jealous too? Perhaps he also felt that last night had been strange and special and should not have been cheapened by a meaningless encounter with an ANBU captain? Ino scolded herself, she shouldn't even allow herself to entertain such thoughts, it was that hopeless romantic part of her speaking again and that part was supposed to shut up and make way for the confident, player side of her.

She watched as Genma paused on the stairs and turned slightly so his face was in profile; he may have been looking at her, he may not, Ino couldn't see properly because the sun was directly behind him and she had to squint to see.

"Well, are you coming?" he asked coolly as if it didn't matter to him either way.

Ino blinked at Genma again. _Coming where? _She couldn't believe this was happening and hoped she was still asleep and just dreaming up all this embarrassment.

"Where?"

"Breakfast, of course, what else is there to do at this time in the morning?" Ino stared after Genma as he hopped down a few more steps.

"I...I...don't know."

"Come on then." He turned again towards her, beckoning her with his hand, holding it out for her to...take?

Ino followed him down the steps but didn't take his hand, it would feel too weird after she'd spent the night with another man. It shouldn't, she knew it should just feel like she was following a friend to breakfast but Genma was different; he wasn't just a friend was he? After a while he dropped his hand to his side and began walking again.

They got to the bottom of the stairs in silence, Ino staying a few steps behind Genma. She felt guilty, and she now knew that she was feeling guilty because of Genma. She was still mad and jealous and all those other negative emotions but underneath there was guilt and embarrassment and regret. Maybe she couldn't do this player stuff after all?

Ino let out a heavy sigh causing Genma to pass her a sideways glance. She looked troubled or something, and Genma began to think maybe he should be a bit warmer to her; after all she had just compromised her morals just to try and be a player. Maybe she was feeling down?

Genma dropped back slightly and their fingers brushed as they walked side by side, the next time they touched he curled a finger around hers; they weren't holding hands and it was hardly noticeable to anyone who would see them but they were touching and it was...nice. It was nice.

Ino had almost stiffened when he had first touched her hand. It had been a shock and she wasn't sure if he'd actually meant to but a moment later his finger were back and hooking around her own. She smiled. He meant it, they were okay.

"So," Ino asked, feeling slightly more at ease now she was away from Jirou's apartment and Genma was being nice, "where are we going?"

"Breakfast."

"Breakfast where?"

"There's a place near here," he said vaguely, "it makes nice tea."

"But...but I look a mess!" Genma glanced sideways at her, taking in the fact she was not wearing a bra with interest.

"Hn. You look fine to me."

"No I don't! I can't go out in public looking like this!"

"You are out in public."

"No one's around, this doesn't count!"

"I'm around."

"Yeah but you're not public, you're...you're...you're just Genma."

"Oh thanks," he teased, actually managing a smile.

"You know what I mean." Genma shrugged.

"There'll be no one there anyway, who else has breakfast at this time in the morning?"

Ino huffed but said nothing, crossing her arms firmly over her chest to try and hide the effect the cold morning breeze was having on her chest and scowling slightly at the ground as they walked.

"Here." When Ino looked back to him he was offering the black coat he'd slung over his shoulder.

"Thanks," Ino said quietly, slipping it around her shoulders and stuffing her bra into one of its pockets. It smelt so strongly of Genma. It smelt nice.

XXXXXX

"You just _had_ to take me to the poshest café in Konoha," Ino hissed at Genma as he manoeuvred the finely carved oak tables with the blue silken table cloths. Ino didn't know they _had_ places like this in Konoha, usually the posh western style café's were reserved for the big towns; she began to worry about the prices.

"Only the best for the princess," he murmured back, grinning slyly. Ino rolled her eyes.

"I don't feel like a princess," she told him, trying to pull her hair straight and tugging at Genma's coat self-consciously. Genma only grinned and stopped at a table that was neatly tucked in the corner of the room.

"You look like one."

"...don't," Ino mumbled grumpily as she slid into one of the two chairs at Genma's chosen table, then remembered something, "oh," she murmured standing up again.

"What?"

"I've just got to...erm...get something," she pushed in her chair, looking in the direction of the lady's toilets.

"From where? The toilet?"

"Just from the...erm..."

"What are you getting from the toilet?"

"Listen," she leaned forward, "the only money I have on me is in...it's tucked into my panties," she hissed. A smile formed on Genma's lips, _if seeing Ino naked isn't enough money falls out her panties too?_

"It's in your...why?"

"Well I was in a hurry this morning so I just stuffed it there! I wasn't planning on going for tea in a posh café!"

"You...what?"

"You heard! Besides can you see anywhere else on me I could keep my money?" Ino asked, spreading her arms out to emphasize her point. Genma smirked.

"You could have put it in your bra," he pointed out, "if you had bothered to put it on." Ino glowered.

"How did I know you'd notice that?" He only smirked again.

"Anyway, sit down, it's okay, I'll pay."

"No! You can't, it would be like we were on a...no you can't."

"Well, if you really want to go hunting around in your panties..."

"I do not want to go hunting around in...!" Ino began loudly but paused, looking around sheepishly then sat down and leaned over the table, "...in my panties, stop being perverse," she hissed at him. Genma grinned.

"I can't," he told her, "it's what you love about me." Ino scoffed. "Anyway, speaking of being perverse...how was it last night?" Ino's eyebrows rose and she half hoped that he was asking because of a jealous urge to know she favoured him over Jirou and not just as a friendly inquiry; but even then it was probably fuelled by a testosterone induced want to be better than other males; it was nature, not jealousy unfortunately. Ino sighed; she was pining, she hated that!

"You're just like Anko, you know that?" Genma shrugged.

"No because this is between you and me, not you and the whole of Konoha." Ino laughed.

"That's true."

"So...?"

"It was okay." Genma cocked an eyebrow.

"Okay?"

"Yes! It was okay! It was nice. Anyway why is this all about me? How was yours?"

"She was...erm...I don't remember much."

"Oh whatever!"

"No, seriously, when I woke up this morning I thought she was you! The last thing I could remember was when we were..." Ino cheeks coloured slightly and Genma found he was suddenly at a loss for words, which was not like him, especially when sex was the topic of conversation, "when we were in the...the store room."

"Yeah, I remember," Ino said quietly, all thoughts of retrieving the money from her underwear gone.

Ino stared out the window behind Genma's head, a thin smile on her lips. The air around them had suddenly turned cold and thick with tension. It seemed neither wanted to be reminded of what had happened the night before; it had been too weird, too intense, too...seductive.

Genma felt like he should apologise for some reason. He was beginning to feel guilty and he wasn't entirely sure why. It was different to his usual morning after guilt, it felt more tainted, more weird, more intense, more...more Ino-based. In fact everything about Ino seemed to be a lot more weird and intense since the other night; her eyes seemed more intensely blue this morning and her hair swayed more sensuously as it moved over her elegant shoulders, her frowns were more melancholy and her smiles more bright. She just seemed...different.

He really wished he hadn't slept with that girl...woman, whatever she was; he really wished he'd pushed aside whatever weirdness there had been and just went home with Ino. He didn't like the idea of Ino with Jirou and he felt guilty he had used the married woman, he felt guilty that Ino had _had_ to sleep with Jirou and that he wasn't there for her, he felt guilty that she had corrupted her innocence and that was sleeping with anyone at all! He felt guilty, he felt guilty, he felt guilty. Guilty, guilty, guilty, and now he had a headache.

Ino could feel Genma looking at her but her eyes stayed resolutely fixed on the blue silk curtains and curtain ties that framed the windows. She swallowed uncomfortably under his gaze, small, strange shivers tickling down her spine as his hazel eyes studied her. Flashes of unforgotten memories of the night before spiralled through her mind, stray kisses and touches on her body or her hands reaching for someone else's; it suddenly felt strange to be sitting so formally with a man she'd been engaged with so intimately.

"Good morning," the waiter said brightly, cutting through the atmosphere and shocking Ino who he tried not to smirk at, when he'd seen Ino jump his mouth had twitched into a smile and then he'd done a double take, probably taking in her odd appearance. "what can I get you?" he asked with practised politeness and Ino could tell he was trying very hard not to focus on her strange attire.

"Tamago gohan and...erm...miso soup," Genma answered straight away, seemingly oblivious to their silent exchange, "and tea." The waiter wrote something down on his pad then looked back up.

"Soy sauce?"

"Yeah." The waiter completed the order then turned his enquiring eyes on Ino who was staring like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Uh...I'll...I'll just have the same," she told him. The man left with their order but before the air of tension could shift over them again Genma's hand shot out and grasped her own.

"Ino, you feel okay don't you?" he asked very seriously.

"I...er..." again she couldn't find the words, all her attention was on where his fingers were holding hers, "yes, I think, I'm fine, why?"

"I wanted to know."

"Okay...are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Okay."

"Right...just I didn't want to feel like I pushed you into it."

"Into sleeping with Jirou?" Genma nodded. "No, course not why would you have?" He shrugged.

"I don't know, just I feel like I'm pushing you to become a player."

"Well you aren't! It was my choice! I persuaded you to sleep with me that night not the other way around!"

"I know but...are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes!"

"You seem different this morning."

"I'm _fine_!"

"If you're sure..."

"_Quite_ sure!" Genma smiled.

"Good then," he murmured, his fingers rubbing circles on her hand, he turned it palm up and trailed the patterns up to her wrist...

"What are you doing?" she asked, unable to keep from smiling at him.

"Nothing," he said absently, his thumb felt warm on her wrist and after a while she realised he was feeling her pulse. It was weird, and for a second she was about to smile but then she thought better of it.

Ino's hand slid out of his, then she watched as his brow creased in confusion. She looked away not wanting to justify why she didn't want him to do it, she didn't know why, only that what he was doing was _too_ intimate.

"Tea!" the cheerful waiter placed two steamy cups onto the table.

"Thanks," Ino mumbled, picking up her cup straight away and taking a sip.

"Are we okay?" Genma asked once the waiter had gone.

"Will you stop asking if things are okay?!" Ino snapped causing Genma to sigh and rub his face tiredly.

"Everything's weird this morning!" he protested.

"That's because you're acting that way."

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I'm –"

"Two tamago gohan with miso soup and soy sauce," it was the waiter again with a tray full of food. The two stayed silent as he set the bowls on the table then cleared off with a curt nod and a smile.

"I'm -" Genma began again but Ino held a hand up, halting him.

"Let's not argue," she said tiredly, "it's too early for both of us." Genma shrugged nonchalantly and picked up his chopsticks.

"Hmm, that's good," he told Ino through a mouthful of rice.

"Lovely," Ino murmured, smiling at his childishness, taking some rice as well. "Hmm! God that _is_ nice!"

"I told you," Genma said, smirking.

"Good choice!" Ino commented as she took another mouthful of the food Genma had inadvertently ordered for them both.

"Uh huh, if you come early in the morning they have this trainee chef guy here and he's brilliant, his miso is the best in Konoha."

"Oh really? You come here often early in the mornings?" Genma raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"I guess, I often have time to waste early in the mornings," he told Ino.

"Hmm," she agreed, if he usually left women's houses at this time then he probably did have extra time in the mornings, "or you could just go home and sleep like a normal person." Genma laughed.

"I suppose I could but it's nice to come here, it's quiet, gives me time to think," _and be guilty_, he silently added.

"Why did you invite me here then, if you like it quiet?" Genma thought about it, why had he? He could have just walked away but that would have been too easy.

"It would have been rude not to," he said, only half meaning it. He'd invited her to re-Genma-ize her he guessed, he needed to restate his claim on Ino again and show her it should have been him in bed with her last night, _god I'm pathetic_, he thought. But most of all he'd invited her because he liked to spend time with her, even though they fought, even though she _confused _him, and now that he felt like Yuugao was leaving him behind it was nice to feel needed by another person.

They ate in silence until almost all the food had gone and when they were finished Genma paid without a fuss.

"I will pay you back!" Ino insisted as they both rose to exit the café.

"You don't have to," he told her.

"I do," she insisted adamantly. Genma didn't say anything else but thought childishly, _she doesn't_.

They wandered lazily down the road, basking in the early morning sun.

"Oh crap," Ino murmured, "do you know how far we are from my house?"

"It's only a twenty minute walk, ten if you go over the roofs." Ino's eyebrows rose.

"Would you like to walk for twenty minutes in these shoes?" she asked, lifting up a stiletto shoe encased foot.

"Come back to mine," Genma said suddenly, mentally slapping himself after he'd said it; Ino had been out all night and she had morals and standards and she'd never-

"Okay."

"...okay?"

"Yeah, it's not far away, right?" Genma shook his head wordlessly, "Right then."

"Right then," he echoed again, grinning as he turned down a side street and then up the stairs to his apartment.

XXXXXX

Genma dropped his keys onto a table near the door with a clatter and kicked off his shoes.

"I'm going to make some coffee," he told Ino, "I'm still knackered." But Ino wasn't listening, instead she was staring open mouth around the hallway of his apartment, her eyes wide and round.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed, "It's fucking huge!"

Genma smirked, "I wish I got that reaction more often." Ino sent him a withering look and moved further into his house.

"God, you kept this quiet!" Genma smirked to himself as he wandered into the kitchen and began boiling water, listening to the sounds of Ino moving around his house. It _was_ a nice apartment, and it _was_ 'fucking huge' but it wasn't like he was going to stay in a tiny first-time-buy apartment when he had begun raking in the money at the age of eighteen.

"Woah, is that marble?" Ino's voice floated into the kitchen from one of the rooms in his apartment.

"Probably," he murmured, picking up the paper that had been left on his kitchen counter top, probably left there from when his cleaner, Masaki, had been the day before.

"You've got a...you've got a hot tub!?" Ino's head emerged around the side of his bathroom door, "why didn't you tell me you had a hot tub?" Genma shrugged.

"I wanted it on the roof but they wouldn't let me so I had to put it in the bathroom," he said absently as he poured water over instant coffee.

Ino stared around the massive bathroom she was in. It was very, very clean and very, very white. The floor was some sort of pearly material that could very well have been marble and covering a section of the room was a large, soft white carpet rug. The hot tub was on the far side of the room in front of a pair of double doors that led out onto what she presumed to be his balcony, a platform and set of steps was set into the back of the tub that led up to the sparkly, white and glass doors; lounging around in a bath right next to a window possibly visible from the street was just so, so Genma. Ino grinned.

In the left hand corner of the room was a large glass shower enclosure and when Ino looked closely she could see the back of the shower had been modelled into a seat. Along the left wall a white and grey counter rose from the floor with a huge mirror over it, reflecting the entire room in its flawless surface. It was all very nice, very posh but the nicest bits were the personal things, the fluffy, white towel that was abandoned on the floor near the silver heated towel rail and the toothbrush and razor that lay on the countertop, surrounded by bottles of stuff: shaving foam, a bottle of 'cleansing hand wash' that had been taken from a hotel called 'Satou Hotels' and something posh and strong smelling in a fancy looking bottle, Ino picked this up, recognising that she'd seen it advertised in a magazine she'd been surreptitiously reading when supposed to be updating patient's files.

Down the hall there was a guest bedroom decorated in clean shades of green and cream and then a very small room stacked with cardboard boxes full of kunai and, of course, senbon. An assortment of swords hung regally on the wall, an ANBU uniform complete with white, porcelain mask hanging on a hook by the door, a stack of documents including certificates for the achievement of success in both Chuunin and Jounin examinations and another awarding him the position of Special Jounin. This was Genma as a shinobi in one overly stuffy, slightly messy room.

_Aha_, she thought as she opened the next door; she'd found what she was looking for, the room that would tell her the most about Genma the man: his bedroom.

"How big is your bed?!" was the first thing that came to her when she looked around it. Genma rolled his eyes, "God, this is so comfy!" he heard her say. _I guess she's found the bedroom then_, he thought as he picked up the cups and carried them to the room from which Ino's sounds were issuing.

"I'm starting to think you like my apartment more than me." He told her, walking around the bed to set the cups down then climbing on the bed himself. Ino laughed.

"I can't believe you let me take you back to my house when we could have been sleeping in _this_!" Genma shrugged, lying back on the bed next to Ino.

"Big beds are okay if your alone I guess, but you can't cuddle up if it's too big; you end up at opposite ends." Ino raised an eyebrow.

"So? I didn't have you down as a cuddler."

"Why not? We cuddle all the time!" Ino leaned over to retrieve her coffee and sat up slightly to drink it.

"You're more of a kisser than a cuddler," Ino told him matter-of-factly. Genma shrugged.

"Both are welcome," he muttered with a smirk, taking a sip of his own coffee then hovering over Ino and kissing her squarely on the lips, taking her by surprise,

"Don't spill!" Ino shrieked, holding her coffee mug out and quickly setting it down on the bedside table.

"You taste like coffee," he told her, collapsing on top of her and slipping an arm around her.

"You're heavy," Ino muttered, pretending to be angry but feeling more happy than anything else. Things were back to normal with Genma and although this situation was doing no good in mellowing Ino's amorous feelings towards him she felt she could at least get through it without declaring her love.

"I'm so sleepy," Genma murmured hazily.

"Go to sleep then," Ino whispered.

And he did, leaving his mug of coffee to go cold and partially untouched on the side next to them.

She spent the time looking around his room wondering if she could learn anything new about him from it. It was pretty plain really and pretty different from the sophisticated minimalism of the rest of his apartment. The bed took up quite a lot of the room but there was also a sliding door, half open and containing clothes and shoes. Just outside that was a laundry hamper near to overflowing with a pair of baby blue and white lacy panties sticking out of it. Ino's eyebrows rose; they were certainly too small to be Genma's... All in all his room was exactly what she expected it to be; in fact it was what she had expected his whole apartment to be; it was kind of mismatched with a shaggy biscuit coloured carpet and a white bedspread with a blue line running along the bottom. On the ceiling above his bed was a ceiling fan turning around and around ever so slowly ever so often, it was kind of hypnotising and so Ino tore her eyes away from it to stare at the man himself instead.

Genma slept with his head nestled in between her breasts and Ino spent ages watching him sleep, watching his eyes flicker under his eyelids and his face contort as dream emotions came over him. It made her smile to see him like that, it was so nice. For a moment she could pretend that they were together, properly, that he'd forsaken all the other encounters with all the other women to just be with her, exclusively...

_Stop it! Get a fucking grip!_

Ino cleared her throat, hoping it would clear her head too, and then watched as Genma stirred on top of her, his eyes opening for a fraction of a second before a cheeky smile curved his delicious lips upwards and he hummed his delight at finding Ino under him onto her skin.

"How can you sleep like that?" Ino asked, rubbing a hand lazily through his brown hair.

"Like what...?" he murmured sleepily.

"When you're moving so much."

"Moving?"

"Yeah, every time I breathe in you go up," Ino took a breath, watching as he moved as her chest expanded with air, "see?"

His eyes flickered open slowly, smiling hazily.

"It's a boring story," he answered, kissing the swell of her breast under his lips and snuggling back down, inhaling in the scent of her skin.

"Well, tell me, it might put me to sleep as well." Again she ran a hand through his silky hair.

"You haven't been sleeping?" Ino shook her head.

"Your activities must have been far more vigorous than mine last night," Ino told him, breaking into a grin as he chuckled at her. "Tell me," she murmured. Genma sighed, his fingers seeking out the soft skin of her arm and drawing a small circular pattern on it.

"I had a dog," he told her quietly, sounding like at any moment he'd slip back to sleep, "I used to use her as a pillow."

"So...at the moment, I'm being your bitch?"

"Course you are."

Ino laughed.

"That's good to know!" Genma smiled against her breast and kissed it again, "Why were you using her as a pillow?" Ino asked, "Didn't you have one of your own?"

"I used her when I couldn't use my pillow," he murmured.

"Why not?" Again his eyes opened, but more resolutely this time and he hardened a stare onto her face and into her blue, blue eyes.

"When I was young," he began, "like really small, five or something, my ma divorced my dad and took up with this...man; she kicked Dad out so I lived with them. Her boyfriend was an ANBU and he drank too much," Ino nodded, she'd certainly seen that before, "He'd come home in these horrible rages and if I ever got in the way I'd feel it, you know? I hated him; he used to...he used to tell me..." Genma paused, glancing up at Ino.

"He used to tell you what?" Ino asked lightly, staring back with her endlessly blue eyes.

"He used to say that my mother was a whore, and that she divorced my Dad because he couldn't...he couldn't keep up with her," his voice was small and hollow, "I mean I was about six or seven; I didn't understand what he meant, you know? I was so young... Anyway my ma used to put me out the house when he'd been drinking and they'd fight and rant at each other for hours and then they'd...they'd _make up_," he said it with such disdain and disgust that Ino immediately understood how they _made up_, "I think they'd forget about me, or else my mother just didn't want to send him into a rage again so I'd be out for ages – all night sometimes."

"That's...that's _awful_." Genma shrugged.

"It was okay because I had Dog, she wasn't allowed in the house you see, and I'd curl up next to her and sleep on her stomach and the movement would rock me to sleep I guess." When he finished Ino could actually feel tears prickling in her eyes.

"God," she breathed. It was an unconscious movement on Ino's part but Genma felt her arms tighten around him, he smiled. "That's so sad!"

"Nah, it's okay, it was a difficult time. There was a war and life was hard then, we didn't have Suna on our side like we do now."

"S'pose not," Ino murmured. She couldn't believe he'd just told her something so intimate and was brushing it off so nonchalantly, and now she couldn't think what to say so for a while she just stayed quiet and held him against her, hoping that it was at least a small comfort. Ino began to think that in was no wonder he couldn't settle down with a women if his early life was so riddled with failed marriages and broken relationships; he would either have turned out very needy or very distant, perhaps the latter was the best option.

"You know," Ino said, "if you told that story to girls more often I'm sure you'd double your number of willing participants." Genma laughed and slid a hand under her shoulder blade to curl around her shoulder in a half hug.

"I could, but it's too personal, I don't like pity."

"You like pleasure though." Genma smirked.

"I like you," he mumbled sleepily, "you're just like Dog." This made Ino laugh.

"Cheers Genma," she whispered.

They lay together quietly for a moment longer, each enjoying the warmness of the other and the solid feeling of a body pushed up against their own. When Ino looked at Genma he looked so far away from her, lost in memories of feuding parents

"My ma always used to say that it was all about sex with him," he told her quietly, "he hated women but he liked sex; that what she shouted at him." Ino's eyebrows furrowed, realising the significance of what she'd shouted at Genma in a moment of anger.

"That's why you..." Ino began, but trailed off, rewording things in her mind, "I'm so sorry," she said.

"Sorry? Why? It's me who should be sorry."

"I know but-"

"There's nothing for you to apologize about, I got angry, I acted like he would have done."

"I don't blame you," she told him, moving her head to look at him.

"You should," he murmured, his eyes finding hers.

Ino shook her head slowly but said nothing.

"You know, when my parents fought I used to sneak out to Choji's house," Ino whispered to him after a while, "his mother always used to make me chocolate cakes and she'd feed me them until I stopped feeling upset...but I guess that's not the same," she murmured, colouring slightly; compared to his story hers sounded like a fairy tale. Genma made an amused sound and his warm breath puffed out onto her skin.

"No," he muttered, "not really,"

They stared at each other for a while, each finding something meaningful in the other's gaze. She forgave him, Genma could see it standing out brightly in her blue eyes; a strange hot sensation wound its way into his chest; he swallowed and looked away, lowering his lips to her shoulder.

"I _like_ women," he murmured against her skin, "I sleep with them because I like them, not because I hate them, that's the difference between him and me." Ino nodded her head, lifting his face to hers with her hands.

"I know," she whispered smiling at him. Genma smirked before he kissed her, one of his hands moving down to trace the outline of her body. _Yes,_ he thought to himself as he moved over the curve of her breasts, _I do love women_.

Ino felt Genma shift on top of her, nudging her legs apart slightly with his knees and settling his weight in between her thighs and it sent a shiver of anticipation across her skin.

It was weird again, and it was intense and it was seductive but they both thrived off it and it powered their movements so they moved against each other with a frantic fervour, kissing and sucking and loving each brush of flesh over flesh.

_I couldn't live without this_, was the thought that popped into Genma's head as he lifted her red dress up over her hips and kissed a searing trail down her neck.

"Don't come on the mission," Genma murmured suddenly against her throat. Ino's eyes opened, internally sighing in irritation.

"Genma –" Ino sighed on an exhale.

"No, listen to me..." he rasped, stopping only when her lips obstructed his words and her tongue engaged his own, "...this isn't about you..." he murmured once he could speak again "...being a ninja, it's about _you_, Ino..."

"Genma I've told you –"

"...it's about you and me," he mumbled, raking his fingers through the silky blonde hair that was splayed against his white pillows.

Ino stared at him, _you and me? _Ino didn't think there was a him and her.

"What?" she muttered breathlessly, feeling Genma's fingers dancing over the back of her thigh.

"It's dangerous," he murmured, this time swiping his palm against her thigh, making her shiver at the feel of his rough hands, "It's so dangerous," he brought her head up to his with the hand that had been losing itself in her blonde hair and kissed her deeply.

"I can handle it," she told him, sweeping her own hand along the hard planes of his torso.

"I know," he whispered back, his lips ghosting over hers, "but I don't want you to have to handle it." She pulled away and scowled slightly.

"We've talked about this, remember? I've _told _you, I'm going and there's nothing you can say to stop me."

"Ino –"

"I can do it!" she hissed angrily at him.

"I know, I know," he murmured, offering placating kisses to her cheeks and along her jaw.

"Then what's wrong with you," she gasped as his lips continued down in their trail and his warm breath finally washed over her nipples under the thin material of her dress.

"I don't know," he breathed. Ino sucked in a breath as his mouth touched the tip of her breast, nudging the sensitive flesh with his lips before opening his mouth and taking her into his warm mouth.

"Genma," she moaned breathily, her fingers lacing into his hair, "I missed you last night." She felt a smirk form against her skin; he was pleased she'd missed him but he didn't say anything back.

He switched breasts, manipulating the other in much the same manner and brushing tantalising fingers up the length of her thigh.

"So he wasn't 'nice'?" Genma murmured.

"Oh he was nice; he was _too_ nice." Genma's head came up to look at her and he gave her the biggest smirk Ino had ever seen; it made her blush immediately.

She was glad he didn't comment on what she'd just said, he just went right back to work, sliding a hand into her panties and returning his lips to hers.

"I wished I had gone home with you," he whispered into her lips, "I thought she was you when I woke up, I wanted her to be you," he muttered, his fingers brushing against the slick flesh under the sheer material of her panties.

"Genma," Ino gasped again, it was really all she could say, his words were making her drunk, getting under her skin and his moving fingers were elating her senses, turning the world around her bright and happy, "Genma..."

There was knocking on the door, quite a unique knock; it shook the whole house but Ino was unsure whether it was the knock or just the curls of pleasure bombarding her senses.

Genma traced his lips over her ear whispering things to her, meaningless, sweet things that held no substance but made her body respond eagerly and her mind soar above her body. The rapping began again but this time Genma stiffened against her.

"Oh shit," Genma murmured suddenly, bowing his head to rest against her chest, "that's my alarm!"

"Alarm...?" Ino mumbled hazily; alarms didn't really matter to her at that moment, even if they did come in the form of large, burly, scarred interrogation experts rapping their knuckles on the front door.

"Yeah, Ibiki said he'd get me if I had Chuunin exam stuff to sort out," he told her removing his hands to the bed either side of her head then leaning down for a kiss. Ino slid her hands over his back, trying to hold him to her but he was resolved upon pulling away, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I forgot."

Ino smiled sleepily.

"That's okay, I think I would have fallen asleep anyway."

"Pfffft, not it I was turning on the charm you wouldn't." Ino sniggered and let go of him allowing him to roll off the bed.

He was breathing heavily even when he stood up. "I'm sorry," he told her as he offered her a hand and helped her off the bed. Ino just shrugged, straightening out her dress.

"Do I look respectable?" Ino asked, pulling at her hair. He looked at her, her messy hair, her smudged make-up and lack of underwear.

"Yes," he answered, "you look perfect."

XXXXXX

Ino was still slightly flushed when she arrived home, fitting her key into the lock only to find that it had been unlocked when she'd got there. Her hand instinctively went to the kunai pouch that was usually strapped to her leg; of course she didn't have it on at that moment but the movement itself calmed her down a bit.

"Hello," Ino shouted tentatively as she pushed open the door. The apartment appeared empty and the hallway was just as she'd left it. She crept further into the house, keeping her back close to the wall.

Everything looked pretty ordinary and Ino was just deciding that she mustn't have locked the door and was laughing at herself for her cautiousness when a voice floated out from the shadows of her kitchen.

"Where've you been?"

The smile slid off her face at the tone of that voice and she turned to address the dark haired Nara sitting on her kitchen work surface smoking a cigarette.

"Not in the house, Shika," she muttered tiredly. Shikamaru huffed and jumped down from the surface, stalking over to her sofa which had an old rumpled blanket draped over it and one of the pillows from her bed; Ino's eyes narrowed at the sight. "Did you sleep on my sofa last night?" Ino asked, eyeing him strangely.

"Where've you been?" he repeated, ignoring her question.

"Well don't you sound like the jealous husband?" Ino chirped, disappearing off into her bedroom but leaving the door open so they could continue their conversation. She chose some more conservative clothes from her closet and removed her dress, pulling an old t-shirt over her head quickly just in case but assuming Shikamaru wouldn't look.

It gave her quite a shock, therefore, when she turned back around and found him leaning against the doorframe, watching her.

"Shika!" she shrieked, "That was _not_ okay when Naruto did it so why would you think when you did it it would be any-"

"Be quiet, woman," he cut through her, "you're so troublesome," he murmured, walking to her bed and slumping down on in. "What? It's not like I saw anything, anyway," he felt prompted to say in response to her angry, incredulous stare. He heaved a heavy sigh and flopped back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Ino I need to talk to you," he told her.

Ino sat down next to him, concerned by his tone. With Shikamaru there was only a subtle difference between his normal lazy tone and his actually seriously troubled one but Ino had grown up with him and knew him pretty much inside out: she could tell by the slight inflection of his words that this was the latter and so instead of being mad at him she settled her irritation and fixed him with apprehensive stare; it must be something pretty big to have got to him so much.

"It's...it's Temari..." _Oh._

"Ugh," Ino flopped back on her bed next to him also staring at the ceiling, "and you want to talk to _me_ about it?!"

"Yeah well I don't understand her, and besides you're a girl so you should be able to explain it." Ino sighed.

"Fine, what's up?"

"We had a massive fight."

"About what?"

"About everything, I never knew she hated me _that_ much." Ino snorted.

"She doesn't hate you, or at least it didn't look like it last night when I left."

"Hm," Shika hummed thoughtfully, "that's when it started. She just went off it! Started shouting about how I'm still in love with you and that I never go and visit her in Sand even though all my friends hate her and –"

"No one hates her, Shika," Ino interrupted him. Shikamaru considered this for a moment, staying silent as he took out another cigarette and put it to his lips.

"And it escalated," he continued quietly, "she said I'm lazy and a chauvinist and that I don't respect her and that her brothers told her all this but she didn't want to believe them. She was mad, really, really mad." His voice sounded so small, fainter than Ino had ever heard it before and when she looked at him she saw a deep frown etched into his features, and not his usual 'this is troublesome' frown, it was a frown she'd never seen before.

"What did you say to her?" Ino asked softly. He chuckled softly but it was a hollow, empty sound; he did not find it funny.

"I told her she was ridiculous...over-reacting...troublesome! It was a full on argument...it was horrible."

"What happened in the end?" Ino asked tentatively.

Shikamaru sighed deeply and lit his cigarette, inhaling strongly and blowing out a great plume of smoke into the air before answering.

"She started crying," he said slowly, then after another pause: "I walked out; I couldn't be bothered with it anymore." Ino exhaled and closed her eyes, _bad idea_, she thought. "I stayed here all night," he continued, "I guess she stayed at mine," he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"And you haven't been back to see her yet?" Ino asked.

"Well obviously not." Shikamaru muttered. "I don't know what's wrong with her!"

"Shikamaru think about her situation," Ino told him, "her brothers don't like you very much, she's backwards and forwards between Konoha and Suna trying so hard to keep her relationship with you going and you don't help any –"

"I _told_ her I couldn't visit her whilst I've got the ANBU job! I promised I'd come as soon as I had time off-"

"Well maybe she doesn't just want to see you in _your_ time off, maybe she wants to be more important to you than that?"

"But she said she wanted to cool it off a bit, she said until she had her brothers' support she didn't want to begin anything major."

"I thought you said the two of you were going steady."

"We are," he murmured, running a stressed hand through his hair, "we _were_," he corrected, "She got a letter from her brother the other day, the Kazekage. He said he wanted her back to Suna, he said he wasn't happy."

"Why don't they like you?" Ino asked.

"I don't know," he answered quietly.

"Maybe they feel like they're losing her?" Ino wondered out loud, _because I sure feel like we're losing you..._

"Losing her? No _I'm_ losing her and it's their fault."

"You need to talk to her," Ino told him, "you need to be more understanding and stop avoiding problems because they're troublesome, it won't help."

"The whole bloody situation is troublesome!" Shikamaru exclaimed, and Shikamaru _never_ exclaimed. "Alright, I'll talk to her but if she goes off on one again I'm not going to –"

"Stop avoiding your problems!"

"That's not avoiding, it's just...anyway if I walk off and don't say anything the situation can't get any worse!"

"Actions speak louder than words," Ino chimed in, accompanied by a wide yawn. Shikamaru sighed.

"Why are women so troublesome?" he murmured. Ino huffed a laugh; Temari was hard work, any long term relationship was and she guessed for the lazy Nara it was even harder.

"She's worth it Shika," Ino sighed, kissing his forehead before she got up, "you know she's worth it." And the strange thing was she meant every word.

XXXXXX

For the rest of that day Ino had no work and so she went to visit her father in hospital. He was sitting up in bed and he was talking animatedly but he did fall asleep every so often in the middle of sentences, apart from that he was fine. Her mother was back to normal too; she was going home at nights again and eating properly and smiling again; it was nice to see.

Ino hadn't told her dad about the mission, she didn't know how to, not when he was in bed recovering from the injuries of the previous attempt, and what would her mother say? She flopped down onto her sofa, contemplating how to do it without causing a fuss.

Rain was drumming against the dark windows, a hypnotising lullaby that was quickly sending her to sleep. When the knock came to her door she half wondered if she could get away with pretending she wasn't in since she was sitting in the soothing darkness, the only light being the faraway street lamp a few streets away. In the end she decided to answer it, it could be a medic from the hospital, it could be her mother, it could be Genma...

It was none of those.

"Erm...hi...Ino." Ino stared at the blonde sand kunoichi standing outside her house, drenched. _What the fuck?_ "C...can I come in?"

"Temari?" Ino exclaimed, peering through the rain at her.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know where else to go," she said, her voice cracking with tears that were indistinguishable through the rain. Her face contorted as her sobs split through the hum of the continuous rain drops bouncing off the surfaces around them.

"Oh god...come in."

* * *

Hope that was okay!!

Thank you to everyone who reviews, I look forward to them every week! And sorry for the mistakes.

Oh yeeeaaah I forgot to ask: what exactly is a 'slash fic'? because everyone throws that word around and I don't know what it is!!

Give us a review and tell me what you reckon of the chapter x.


	15. Regression

Eck that was a long wait! Sorry for taking so long! And sorry if it's not good but I tried real hard to make it good! A lot happens in this one and I feel like I've crammed it a bit but I'm excited to write the mission chapters so I'm trying to cram the plot in lol I hope it's okay.

**Warning: bad language and bad men! (Language and sexuality)**

Enjoy!

* * *

Temari's presence in Ino's apartment was really, really weird. All the insurmountable hate Ino had had for the Sand kunoichi was now diluting with the confusion she'd felt as Temari had slid into her apartment and collapsed onto her in an inconsolable fit of tears and sobs.

"I'm...so...sorry," she had managed to shudder out as Ino set her on the sofa and went to get a towel. Temari was shivering, her blonde hair looked brown with the wet and her clothes were sticking to her trembling skin, "I...didn't kn...know where e...else t...to go," she sobbed.

"It's okay," Ino murmured, trying to sooth the devastated woman. _Shikamaru must have got it very wrong_, Ino thought as she gave Temari a towel and her own purple, fluffy dressing gown before leaning back against her kitchen sideboard, gaping at the kunoichi with shock and concern; she didn't know what to do! And there was still a reserved part of her that didn't really want to get too close, as if even though Temari _looked_ submissive he could strike at any time; it was all animal instinct, it was all nature.

"I'm sorry," she choked, trying to compose herself, "I shouldn't be here," she sniffled, "but...I didn't know where else to go," and then the sobs broke anew and once again Ino found herself staring stupidly at Temari.

Ino bit her lip and moved across the room to sit next to the weeping kunoichi, taking the towel and slipping it around her shoulders.

"If you don't get out of your wet clothes you'll get ill," she said softly, "I'll lend you something and then we'll see about getting you back-"

"No! I can't go back, please let me stay here!" Ino's eyebrows rose and her mouth opened and closed in surprise, "please, Ino! I can't see him! I can't see him..." Again she began to sob. _Stay? At my apartment? Temari!?_

"You...you..." Ino so almost said she couldn't, it could be so easy to say but looking at her she was pitiful, she was broken, and Ino would have had to be a monster not to be affected by it, "You can, yes, of course."

XXXXXX

Temari cried and cried and cried and when Ino finally left her to go to the bathroom she was still crying, not wailing like before but sniffling and staring blankly at Ino's coffee table as tears slid sideways down her tanned face. It was horribly, horribly sad, no, not sad, sad wasn't the right word, it was distressing, gut-wrenching and pitiful, Ino didn't know how much more she could take. She wondered if she had cried like that all those times she'd stayed at home, her heart bleeding out through her eyes and all for that lazy, dark-haired Nara. _How embarrassing_.

When Ino came out of the bathroom, washed and ready for bed the room was silent. Temari was asleep, dead to the world, the tears drying on her face and her hands scrunched in the oversized shirt Ino'd given her to wear; it might have been Shikamaru's or perhaps one of her atrocious past boyfriends'? But more likely it was Choji's. Ino always found that Choji had the most comforting smell out of all her 'boys'; Shika generally smelt very, very clean and crisp, like something minty or perhaps citrusy was mixed with a natural musky human smell, conversely Asuma was all musk, very, very masculine and of course very, very smoky and then, more recently, he had quite a strong smell of Kurenai and a soft baby smell. Choji had, in the same way, a very masculine aroma but it was mixed with something sweet, almost like vanilla; to Ino he smelt like being a kid and all the security and mystery that life had at that age. Though it didn't matter anyway because when she looked closely at Temari her nose was pushing into the pillow that Shikamaru had used the night before and so Ino guessed she was probably only experiencing Shika's sharp scent.

Her bed was cold and stiff when she slid into it, sternly reminding her of how it had been abandoned the night before and that she hadn't returned to it since just now. She tried to get comfy in it but it was hard, especially when she knew that her newest love rival was asleep in the room next door. It was werid, Temari _was_ her love rival but...not really, not anymore because Temari didn't love Genma, did she? So then...who was her love rival? Who was the person holding her back from Genma? Ino shivered, there was no one at all holding her back from Genma and yet she wouldn't dare approach him with anything like love, the very thought terrified her even as everything about him was just so lovely. _Eww lovely, that sounds so...weird_. Everything was weird.

She had weird dreams too, full of strange revolving colours and zigzagging patterns, the kind of dream she usually got in the middle of a horrible stint of flu so to be awoken by a creek at her door in the early hours of the morning was quite welcome.

It was black outside, Ino could see the dark sky and the stars set into it through the window where she hadn't bothered to draw the curtains. She inhaled deeply, turning over to face the door.

"Ino?" a black shadow was moving across her door frame, "Ino are you awake?"

Ino hummed the affirmative before she could think that staying silent might be preferable. Temari moved into the light of the window, "I can't sleep," she muttered as she sat on the bed heavily.

Ino blinked in sleepy disbelief, this was...werid.

"Thinkin' of Shika?" Ino mumbled sleepily. Temari nodded slowly. "What happened?" she asked. Temari sighed before answering, running a stressed hand through her hair and over her face.

"We...er...had a fight. I don't think it's..._we're_...working. He didn't come home last night, you know? I don't think he wants...well, I mean I don't think we want the same things." She sighed again. "Sometimes I just feel so much older than him; he's still enthralled with ANBU work, he loves it, all that strategy stuff and I just feel I got over all that years ago when Gaara became the Kazekage." Ino's eyebrows furrowed.

"He's excited now," Ino yawned, "but it'll pass, can't you just wait?" In the half-light Ino saw tears catch the light as they fell down her cheeks.

"I don't know," she murmured quietly, her lip trembling, "I think it's too late..."

"Too late?" Temari took in a shuddering breath.

"I love Shikamaru," she sniffed brokenly, "but he's not ready to..._I'm _not..."

"It's okay," Ino murmured, sitting up and boldly folding her arms around Temari in a tight hug; she was far too tired for reserve and Temari had stopped making sense, her voice broken with heaving sobs, "It'll be alright."

Temari tried to say something but it really wasn't working. She just leant heavily upon Ino, soaking her pyjama top with her tears, and as Ino listened to the horrendously heart wrenching sound of her sadness she realised that she felt no bad feeling towards the sand kunoichi, in fact she felt the exact opposite, she felt pity and sadness and a very human instinct to help her. This _is_ what she had been like with Shikamaru and this was what she would be like with Genma when he got bored of her, she knew it, she knew she'd cry and scream in pain. _No_, _not again._

_It ends tomorrow_, Ino promised herself, she already loved Genma and although being with him was extraordinary she couldn't go through the heart ache again. _Tomorrow!_ Tomorrow she'd sort her mess of emotions out and _stop_ being all mushy about Genma. _However a person can stop being mushy about someone..._

Ino sighed as Temari wen limp against her, her sandy blonde hair stirring gently as her sleepy breaths puffed out across it. Ino knew whilst looking at Temari's sleeping face that it was time to let go of Shikamaru. She understood now that her team mate couldn't be hers, or perhaps she'd already known that? After all she'd gone looking elsewhere hadn't she? She'd found Genma and transferred her all her affections onto him (for better or worse). Moreover she was beginning to think Shikamaru wasn't that great anyway, he was so...so _human_, he wasn't that powerful, intelligent, ass-kicking ninja-god she had though him to be up until about a week ago, and besides, Temari needed him so much more than she had ever done.

XXXXXX

"Ino..."

"Early..." Ino murmured, screwing her eyes shut against the light.

"Well...it's on the table."

"Table?" Ino cracked her eyes open, quickly shadowing them from the light that streamed through the open curtains. She could smell tea.

"Ino?" _Temari?_ Temari sat sheepishly on the very edge of Ino's bed wearing Ino's purple dressing gown and cradling one of Ino's stripy mugs. Her eyes looked bleary and tired and she had faint mascara tracks down her cheeks. _Oh yeah, Temari_, she remembered now.

"What time is it?" Ino murmured, sitting up and running a hand through long, blonde hair.

"Eight fifty three," Temari answered.

"Ugh...fuck," Ino muttered, flopping back down onto the bed, remembering the shift change she'd had with Hana that had her doing the nine 'til twelve shift.

"Erm...may I have a shower?" Temari asked nervously and when Ino uncovered her eyes to look she saw the sandy blonde twisting her hands gingerly in the purple towel material, "I'll be quick and then I'll leave straight away, I'm so...I'm so sorry for last night," she finished quietly.

Ino sat up again, making a conscious effort to look kindly and civilised.

"It's fine," she told her softly, "I've got to go to work but you can take as long as you want." Ino got up from the bed, noticing the steaming mug of tea of her bedside table and taking it as she walked to her cupboard and pulled out her medic's uniform.

"Are you sure?" Temari asked, eyeing Ino warily as if at any moment she would turn against her.

"Sure," Ino yawned.

She changed quickly, not really caring that Temari was there – it felt too early to care about things like that – and ran a brush through her hair, finally deciding it needed to be tied up.

"Ino...about last night..." Ino looked up from tying her boots.

"Hm?"

"Please...don't tell Shika I was here, I don't want him to know that I'm hiding out at his friend's houses."

"He won't mind," Ino told her, ignoring the twinge in her chest as she consoled _Temari_ of all people, "he'll be glad that you're okay, he'll be worried about you." The twist in Temari's lips told Ino she didn't think he would be. "What did you fight about?" Ino asked, suddenly becoming suspicious that both parties involved hadn't disclosed the _exact_ details of the fight but were certain the other hated them now.

"It was just stupid," Temari muttered, turning away, "I...we both said things..." Ino quirked an eyebrow at Temari's back but said nothing more. Shikamaru was a good guy, he'd see that this ended okay, and besides after a while it would get too troublesome for him not to make up with Temari anyway.

"Well, I'm off," Ino said, straightening.

"Okay, bye...and erm...thank you."

"Go and see Shika today," Ino all but ordered as she opened the door, dismissing the thank you.

"Maybe."

XXXXXX

The amount of paperwork on Ino's desk was getting ridiculous, but the more ridiculous it got the more Ino ignored it, and the more Ino ignored it the more ridiculous it got; it was a vicious circle. Really. And that was why that morning, as always, Ino took a wary look at the piles of unsigned papers, unseen memos and unordered patient files and walked straight back out of the office; she just didn't have the strength to tackle all that today.

"Ino!" The boss. _Great_.

"Kaede-san?"

"Have you seen the state of your office?"

"Yes."

"Then do something about it!"

"I'm doing the patient rounds today, senpai."

"Ino an office is a privilege! What is an office, Ino?"

"It's a privilege, Kaede-san."

"Then get yours sorted; there are plenty of other medics that would happily take your office!"

"But-"

"Privilege, Ino!" Kaede-san sang as she plucked the patients forms from Ino's hands and strode off imperiously down the corridor.

Ino turned back to her office. _A privilege...right._

XXXXXX

Ino began by making well meaning piles – like she always did on the days when she decided to tidy her room, piles that would eventually turn into a scatter of paper across her desk as they were left unattended after she'd got bored of ordering. She had a pile for memos, a pile for patient's files, a pile for things that needed her signature and a pile for miscellaneous items such as the little doodle of a nin-dog she'd drawn during the last time she'd tried to tidy her room.

First thing to do was drink coffee and so Ino set off to the coffee machine only to be accosted by Keade-sempai again who curtly informed her that 'procrastination is the thief of time!' And so it was back to her office and there she spent the next two hours picking through the papers and dropping them into their piles.

The patient's files were the most interesting and from time to time she opened them and flicked through them idly, re-educating herself on the conditions of the people she'd treated. But the file that caught her eye and _really_ held her attention was one that had been just recently propped on the corner of her desk. It looked fairly old and had two coffee ring stains on it.

It was Genma's file.

Ino stared at it, and in half a second it was in her hands and she was flicking through it fiercely. _I shouldn't really be..._but she couldn't stop the intrusion, besides she must have read it once, right? So it didn't matter. _Right?_ And besides she might find something in it that would turn her off Genma for life, it might be beneficial...right?

The first page was Genma's stats: full name, date of birth, height, weight, shoulder, waist and hip measurements. _Nothing juicy there..._

The next page began the long list of ailments he'd been admitted to hospital with and their dates, beginning with a broken arm from falling out a tree at the age of four, a black eye at the age of four and a half, two dislocated shoulders at five, four pretty serious burns at the age of six and broken fingers and glass embedded in his palm at the age of seven, to name a few. It was sad, really, really sad; it told a story of a childhood of neglect and Ino supposed if he was left to his own devices by his mother and step-father – like he'd said he'd been – then there was no wonder he got into all those scrapes. By eleven the wounds got more shinobi related: a kunai to the shoulder, broken ribs, chakra burn from chakra overuse etc. Ino smiled as she read that at the age of fourteen Genma had been admitted for a number of pretty serious injuries in and around his mouth involving senbon; served him right for deciding it was cool Ino thought wryly. _Not cool...but pretty sexy._

When she thought about it she hadn't thought about Genma properly since the previous day which was strange because she seriously believed that if she was freaked out about him no one would blame her if they knew the details. He'd actually _told_ her to tell him she wanted him and needed and...had he been about to tell her to say she loved him? That wasn't like Genma at all, but she'd been so sure he was going to...but that just wouldn't do! He was giving her hope, and she didn't want hope because it would _never_ happen with him. He was a player, he played women, just like he was playing Ino. _This has to stop today_.

The previous day _had_ been amazing though; Genma's house was amazing and Genma himself was pretty amazing too and neither had mentioned the night before at all, which was pretty amazing in itself because Ino was sure that if it had been mentioned then a morbid silence would descend between them, soaking up all the things that should have been said and explained. But there had been none of that and instead they'd lain in bed and whispered secrets to each other like naïve school children or tentative first loves..._weird_, Ino thought as soon as she stumbled down the 'first love' route and she dismissed it immediately, besides, it wouldn't do to be pining after Genma when they had that big mission together; she would need to be focused, the team would expect it of her and she expected no less of herself. _I'm a professional, not a love-struck little girl!_ Though in reality she was possibly equal measures of both because she dove back in to Genma's file, soaking in all the bits of information his past injuries and exploits could tell her about the man.

"Oh hey Ino!" Ino looked up from the file quickly to see the smiling face of Rei, "you're still here?"

"Still...?" Ino looked down at the clock on the desk. _Half twelve?!_

"Are you working overtime?" Rei asked wondering over to Ino's desk and observing her well meaning piles.

"Oh crap, no! I'm supposed to be visiting my father." Ino snapped Genma's file closed and chucked it on top of the others. "See ya!" Ino called as she ran out the door.

"Bye," Rei murmured absently, picking up the file Ino had dropped. She flipped it open onto the first page, read the name _Shiranui Genma_ and smirked, remembering how she'd caught the two of them embracing tightly in his hospital bed that night. Rei flicked through the file and giggled happily; Ino deserved some good sex after her horrible history of men and from what Rei had heard Genma was the best man for it. Plus from the look of them that night she'd walked in to see them tightly entwined she guessed it was more than just sex; maybe Ino would be the one to tame Konoha's number one player? "Innooo loooves Genmaaa," she snickered out loud.

XXXXXX

Her father's room was quite a way away but Ino charged through the hallways and made it there in record time. She'd promised her mother that she'd come and see her father since he kept asking after her and Ino's mother was getting _sick_ of it.

"Otou-saan!" Ino sang as she bounced happily into her father's room. "How are you feeli – oh..." Ino broke off as she noticed the visitor already seated in the visitor's chair and immediately flushed at the ridiculously childish voice she'd just greeted her father in. _Oh god_.

"Ino," Yamanaka Inoichi smiled brightly, completely eradicating the troubled frown that had been on his face just moments before his daughter had entered the room, "erm...Ino this is one of the ANBU that came on the last mission with me," Inoichi said, inclining his head toward the brown haired, backward hitai ate-ed, brown eyed, tall, muscular, senbon-in-place shinobi, "Shiranui Genma."

_Oh no! This is too confusing!_

"Oh...hello Genma..." Ino floundered, searching her brain for the right honorific, _he's just Genma! _"-san, Genma-san."

"And, my daughter Ino," Inoichi muttered to Genma. Genma stood up and inclined his head like a polite ninja should.

"Ino-san," he murmured.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Ino asked, suddenly worried that Genma might have told her father that she was embarking on the mission with them, but then why would her father feel the need to introduce them if he knew they had already met for mission briefing? Also she had the distinct feeling that her father wouldn't be as relaxed as he was if he knew his precious daughter was going on a dangerous mission that even _he_ couldn't complete.

Genma and Inoichi exchanged a look.

"No," Genma answered at last, "of course not Ino-san." Ino did _not_ like him calling her that! His voice was low and giving her shivers. It was such a delicate situation and Genma was smirking at her!

"Okay," Ino said slowly, moving to her father's bedside and kissing him on his temple, turning away from the smirking special jounin. "Feeling better?" she asked, resolved upon ignoring Genma. She decided she needed to be away from him for a few days.

"I've felt better," Inoichi admitted, smiling at his daughter, "but I'm better than I was." Ino smiled in return.

"And they're treating you well? Are you drinking enough?"

"Erm...kind of," Ino tutted and picked up the water on the bedside, revealing four small pills.

"What's that? Aren't you taking your medication?"

"I'm fine!"

"Dad!"

"It makes me go all funny!"

"It'll make your drowsy but it's important! And anyway you need rest! Don't you want to get better? And I presume you're eating well and - "

"Ino, stop fussing!" Inoichi groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, "You sound exactly like your mother!" The corners of Ino's pretty pink lips twisted downwards in a very childish, petulant pout.

"That was harsh," she scolded her father, picking up the pills and water and handing to him regardless. Inoichi smirked.

Genma's heart was beating fast in his chest; he could see Ino was feeling awkward with him there but something about the situation made him stick around. It was exciting to see Ino like this, Ino the daughter as apposed to Ino the lover, it was exciting and deliciously naughty; he was the forbidden lover bound to formality by the restraints of society and the heavy protection of an austere father! _I really have to stop reading Kakashi's books..._

Ino and her father were still discussing Inoichi's condition when Genma zoned back in to the conversation, and Genma got the feeling that Ino was decidedly ignoring him.

"If it was my choice I'd be up and kicking the shit out of those bastards that did this!" Inoichi grumbled, pointing to his bandaged stomach.

"Otousan," Ino murmured disapprovingly in reprimand.

"Well it's true! It's you, your mother and these nurses that are holding me back or else I'd – "

"You'd fail miserably if you went out in this state; you're going to be inactive for a while, why can't you just relax?" Inoichi huffed indignantly.

"What are you doing about it anyway," Inoichi asked, turning to Genma, "is another team taking the mission?"

"We...erm...we have got someone to take you place on the mission." Genma swallowed, feeling Ino's eyes blistering his face.

"Who?"

"Oh...erm...just...just some chuunin."

"A chuunin?! Who decided that?"

"What's wrong with chuunin?" Ino piped up, stopping Genma from answering.

"It's a very dangerous mission! A chuunin wouldn't last two seconds!" Genma opened his mouth again but was cut off.

"Well maybe this is a very competent chuunin?!" Ino groused.

"Even the most competent chuunin would find that mission difficult, it's not a nice place to go undercover in," Inoichi muttered, thinking hard.

"If we can find any way around it we will," Genma assured. Ino's eyes snapped up to him, fixing him with the deadliest glare he'd ever seen.

"Maybe you just need to give the chuunin a little bit of credit, I'm sure they're not as bad as you're making them out to be!"

"We're not disputing their skill as a ninja," Genma replied, "it's all about experience."

"It's _just_ an undercover mission!" Ino said firmly and with practised calmness.

"It's a very _dangerous_ undercover mission," Genma said just as firmly, "and if the chuunin can't understand that then I rest my case!"

"The chuunin's not stupid!" Ino exclaimed.

"Hmmph," both pairs of eyes snapped towards Inoichi. Ino had almost forgotten her father was in the room; it felt like it was just her and Genma having a tiff again, as always.

"...dad? Is he asleep?" Genma waved a hand in front of Inoichi's face.

"I'd say...yes, he is." Ino breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's the pills." Ino said, smiling at her father fondly but in two seconds flat she turned angry eyes on Genma, Genma wished she'd use those kind, fond eyes on him instead. "Genma, why are you being a dickhead about this again?"

"You know how I feel about it," was all Genma offered. Ino ran a stressed hand through her hair.

"Ugh! God this is too weird."

"Sure it is Ino-saaaan," Genma sang, mimicking the voice Ino had used to address her father when she'd entered the room.

"Shut up Genma!" Ino snapped, "why are _you _here anyway?"

"Mission stuff," Genma said vaguely.

"Why didn't you tell him about me going on the mission?" Ino asked. Genma glanced at Inoichi again.

_I wish I had_, Genma thought, flicking his tongue against the point of his senbon, but he had decided that having secret rendezvous' with Ino was more important than angering Inoichi, and besides just because he was opposed to the idea wouldn't change anything; Ino was set on going and the mission's coordinator was set on her going too.

"I thought," he said, "I thought maybe you should."

"Good," Ino sighed, "he won't want me to go and-"

"_I _don't want you to go!" Anger bubbled up inside her and Ino was vividly brought back to that moment when they were rolling around on Genma's humongous bed and she was staring into heated hazel eyes and feeling warm rough fingers on her skin. _'Don't come on the mission' _he had pleased.'_We've talked about this, remember? I've told you, I'm going and there's nothing you can say to stop me,'_ Ino had hissed at him, '_what's wrong with you?!'_ and then his breath had appeared at her breasts, _'I don't know,' _he had breathed against her taut nipples...Ino shuddered at the memory. "What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh nothing," Ino insisted, rubbing her arms to feign the effects of a cold draught, "just cold, is all," she mumbled.

"What will you tell him?" Genma asked, staring at Inoichi's closed eyes. Ino shrugged.

"The truth, what else is there to tell?"

The two watching Inoichi in silence for a moment before Genma's eyes slid to Ino and watched the pale curve of her neck that was visible where the blonde hair parted.

"Was he okay before I came?" Ino asked him, not once looking at Genma.

"Y...yeah, he was okay."

"Was my ma here?" Ino asked, leaning forward towards her dad and stretching out an arm to straighten out his bandages; her medics top gaped at the side a bit and Genma got a view of a pale blue bra and a curve of soft, white skin.

"N...o...no."

"She must have re-opened the shop," Ino murmured idly, "I'll have to go down there and see if she needs help."

Genma made a noise in the back of his throat, his eyes tracing the line of her body down her back, over her hips, between her thighs...

_What the hell's wrong with me?_

It was kind of like physical tourettes; Genma knew he wasn't allowed to find Ino sexual in this situation and was so aware of that fact that he'd suddenly become extremely eager. He wanted to ask her back to his apartment but he couldn't do that when Inoichi was in the room. Genma reckoned Inoichi would wake up for that and undergo and miraculous recovery just to kick his ass, _not good_. Genma coughed and shifted slightly.

"Erm...Ino...can we talk...outside?" Ino looked at him then, a deep furrow upon her brow and her eyes followed him as he walked to the door.

"Outside? What about?" Genma opened the door and held it that way, motioning for her to go through.

"It won't take a second," he said. Ino nodded slowly and with one last glance at her father stood and followed Genma.

The corridor was cooler than her father's room, and Ino was just observing this when Genma crossed the corridor to stand next to her and everything suddenly felt a lot warmer. He was standing close, really close and Ino felt her breath hitch. _Stop it!_

"What is it?" Ino asked clearly, trying to sound matter-of-fact and precise.

Genma reached out a hand and ran a thumb over her cheek, noting the slight wince she gave.

"Will you come and see me tonight?" A prickle tickled up Ino's spine.

"Come and s...see you?" _Damn, don't stutter!_

"Yeah, you know _see_ me, I'll get naked, you get naked then we'll...what's wrong? Are you blushing?"

"No!" Ino tried to turn her face into the shadow a bit, she was blushing, and she hated it. _This can't go on_, she scolded herself, _I've got to turn him down._ "No...I...I can't."

"Why?" _Because I'm falling in love with you!_

"Because...because I'm busy!"

"Doing...?"

"Well maybe I'm just not in the mood!" Genma gave her a funny look.

"Period?" he asked, "because I don't min-"

"No!" Ino cried, "Genma! I can't believe you said that!"

"Why not? You're refusing to sleep with me for no reason, it's...weird!" Ino laughed to relieve tension and the sharp ache in her chest.

"Because you're so irresistible?"

"Yeah!" Ino narrowed her eyes at Genma.

"Look I'm just not in the mood, okay?"

"I'll get you in the mood," Genma murmured, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her forward, "what's wrong?" he asked, noticing her hesitation and how her back bowed away from him.

"Not tonight, okay?" Ino slid out of his arms and back into her father's room, "I'll tell him you had to leave okay?"

_No, not really_ Genma thought as he stared after Ino.

XXXXXX

Genma spent that day sulking and by the time he'd finished putting together a mission dossier for his most recent mission he was still feeling morose, and so he headed to the bar to sulk. He felt like a kicked dog.

"You look like a kicked dog," Raidou slurred as Genma slid into the seat next to him.

"Huh."

"See that kunoichi over there," Raidou said, "she's been matching me drink for drink all night, reckon she's drunk enough to let me take 'er home?

"Raidou it's eight o' clock, how long have you been drinking for?" Raidou gave no answer except to groan and slide the bottle of whiskey in front of him to Genma.

"I feel ill," he muttered, resting his head on the bar top.

"I don't think you're in a fit state to take anyone home," Genma muttered, taking a swig of the whiskey. It burned and the world began to feel a little lighter.

When Genma looked back at Raidou he was asleep and drooling on the bar top. _Lovely..._

Genma took a good look at the kunoichi indicated by Raidou; she was familiar...and looking at him, smiling an outrageously sexy smile and sliding along the bar to stop at his side.

"Genma, right?" the kunoichi murmured into his ear. A pungent smell of some sweet alcohol washed over his face. "You don't remember my name do you?" the woman giggled, "It's Temari," she told him, holding out a hand for him to shake which he took slowly.

"The sand kunoichi," he muttered as recognition dawned.

"Yeah!" The kunoichi smiled drunkenly and nodded towards Raidou. "How's your friend?" Genma turned to observe Raidou also, accidentally bumping his shoulder with hers, his forearm brushing against the fullness of her breast.

"Oh he's okay, alive at least." Temari giggled.

"He's a heavy drinker," she murmured, lifting her lips up to Genma's ear to speak even though the noise in the bar was muted. A warning went off in Genma's head; this woman was Nara Shikamaru's girlfriend: Ino's best friend's woman, to interfere would mean certain death from Ino, or Shikamaru, or both combined.

"Hm." Genma tried to sound noncommittal as he took another swig of the bottle Raidou had given to him but a second later she was back at his ear and this time he actually _felt_ her lips move against his flesh.

"So what's your vice?"

"Hm?" Temari placed a hand on Genma's chest.

"His is drink, what's yours?" Genma moved his ear away from her lips, trying to make the movement smooth and not like he was jerking it away from the danger of her pouting, pink lips – which he was. He looked into her face, watching as her lips curved into a smile and the hazy gleam in her dark blue eyes.

"A...er..."

"Because I heard rumours..."

"Rumours?" _This will certainly end in tears. _Temari nodded.

"I heard," Temari rasped, resting her second hand on his broad shoulder, "that you are pretty hot in bed, Genma." She _breathed_ his name and again he got a wave of that sweet alcoholic scent; it was delectable. Genma's eyebrows rose. "Is that true?"

"It could be..." Genma told her, smirking, "but, I heard you were involved with Shikamaru, is that true?" Temari's lips twisted and the look in her eyes turned hard and stony, reminding him of the expressions of the countless sand-nins he'd fought. "I'm sorry, Temari," Genma whispered against her ear, "but I don't fancy getting on Nara's bad side." Temari sighed provocatively, running a finger down Genma's chest.

"That's a shame," Temari murmured, her arms retreating from around Genma, "I could have rocked your world." And then she disappeared into the crowd leaving a trail of tuneful laughter in her wake.

Genma smirked. Ino owed him big time for not ruining her best friend's relationship. _You better thank me later, Ino_, Genma thought angrily as he knocked back more alcohol.

XXXXXX

Genma went home for a very cold shower, except before he could get to the shower the sofa called to him and he sank down onto it deciding to resume his sulking. What the hell was wrong with Ino _now_? And why wasn't his conscience letting him sleep with other women? Genma sighed.

_Right, I'm going to sulk here, have a shower then go to bed._ Tomorrow he'd sort out temperamental women and sexual frustrations; maybe he'd even get lucky and kill two birds with one stone? He could hope.

The interruption to his schedule occurred at almost exactly eleven o' clock. Genma was signing Chuunin Exam papers and looking over the pledge of honesty he'd have to sign to promise he wouldn't interfere with the exam participants when the door bell went and he was of half a mind to ignore it, but then again it could be Ino and the more he stared at the papers in front of him the more his mind conjured up the image of her sprawled out across them devoid of underwear.

He went quite quickly to open the door.

"Hey."

"Hey..." Temari slid into his apartment and closed the door behind her as Genma stared at her audacity. She slid off her jacket.

"Temari? What are you doing?"

"Are you really so slow?!" she exclaimed as she grabbed his shoulders and yanked him down to her level. Her mouth was vicious against his and in a moment of surprise her tongue slid into his mouth.

"What about Shikam-"

"He doesn't want me," Temari rasped.

"What?" Genma braced his hands on her shoulders to keep her from attacking him again.

"We had a fight, we broke up." Then she knocked his arms from her shoulders and dived back in again. "I want you, Genma," she muttered before her tongue slithered into his mouth to find his.

His immediate reaction was to pull back but she was a strong kunoichi and was resolved upon keeping him kissing her this time; try as he might she just would not let go of him, and then he made the mistake of groaning in frustration which seemed only to strengthen her resolve. She answered him, moaning into his mouth and using the time he spent experiencing confused shivers at the sound to brush a hand over his crotch, promising him naughty, naughty things before inching up his shirt and caressing his bare skin.

Genma's mind was spinning, _this isn't fair_, he cursed as her hand slid lower on his muscled abdomen.

He knew that he had the chance to be very, very bad or the chance to be very, very good but his overly sexed brain was confusing which was the bad route and which was the good. Would it be good to stop this gorgeous woman from touching him anymore? Was it good to deny them both the pleasure? Was it good to leave her sad and alone? Surely it was good to mumble encouraging compliments to her as she writhed on top of him? Surely it was good to make her feel good again. Or was all that so, so very bad? _Damn it!_

The tips of her fingers slid under the waist band of his trousers and hovered there for a moment, testing Genma's reaction. Genma did nothing, his hands still clenched in the soft material of her jumper. He didn't know whether this was an invitation or a rejection.

Temari pulled back. _Thank god, _Genma thought but in less that two second she had grabbed his hand, pulled him towards his couch and shoved him onto it, quickly straddling the helpless ninja.

Their mouths clashed back together and Genma forgot himself as his tongue incited a response from her own and delved deep between her lips, brushing against hers and weaving around the slick muscle to caress her hard palate. She groaned and Genma began to feel a little lost.

_How much did I drink?_ he wondered as his dizzy mind registered that she was undoing his trousers and shrugging them off quickly along with his underwear and a second later that his fingers were undoing the clasps on her top to reveal an expanse of browned skin and a soft, white, lacy bra.

It was beautiful, _she_ was beautiful, there was no denying that. No matter if it was wrong or right to sleep with her she was goddamn gorgeous. And besides Ino didn't want him anymore, she'd rejected him or else it would have been her smooth pale skin and large, bound breasts he would be staring at.

_Ino doesn't want me any more_.

He had to keep from jolting when she first touched him, even though it was just on the smooth skin of his hips before his muscled thighs began. Her hands were cold and it sent a renewed shiver of guilt through him. This woman was spoken for and by someone that Ino cared very deeply about and he would be damned if were to ruin it for them. They may have had a fight but lover's had fights; they fought and got over it, but now here _he_ was, the tall, muscular, handsome spanner in the works.

She'd touched Shikamaru with those hands, handled parts of him that Genma didn't even want to think about with those hands that were now sliding over him, and by extension those hands were the very same that had caused Ino all that upset and heart break, Ino who didn't want him anymore. However it still remained that he wasn't finished with her. No way. The spark between them was there still, ready to be kindled into a crackling storm of lust and emotion when they needed it...or at least it _had_, before that afternoon.

His movements became more frantic, hands groping her thighs and hips, trying to extinguish haste by pressing his fingers into her skin but she had bony hips and the hard feel was thoroughly unsatisfying to push against.

Genma's stomach muscles flexed, partly because he had been about to sit up and partly because at that very moment her cool hand encircled his burning flesh. His hips shifted, arched, twisted. He wasn't sure whether they were striving to get away from her or to pull himself into her more.

He could feel her breasts push against his chest, he could feel the textured, flimsy lace of her bra pushing against his sensitive skin, brushing past his nipples, stimulating feeling from him along with the aching in his stomach as her hand contended with his length and began stoking him forcefully, draining pleasure from him that he wasn't sure he should be giving. Not to Temari anyway.

_But Ino won't have it either..._

He was responding to the basest form of his lust and anger when his hands came in between them, pushing her fleshy breasts into her chest to feel their shape and the hard nipples that grazed the palms of his hands. Temari made a small noise, a reluctant noise, but all the same it showed she was with him in this and that she could feel the pleasure too, even if it was wrong and dirty and rushed.

_It _is_ wrong_. _Definitely wrong_.

He grabbed her wrist, moving her hand away from him only to push up against her warm centre, desperate to be inside her so his mind could go blank. She gasped and groaned, her head tipping back and allowing him to roll them over in the little space they had; this was no problem for Genma; it was not the first time he'd had sex on a couch.

"Ah...Shhik..." her voice trailed off, eyes opening to reality. Her hand came down, ripping her underwear out the way. "Do it," she gasped, staring him right in the eye. Her eyes were dark and clouded; there was no naïve innocence to them, no reluctant seductress, nothing...nothing _Ino_ in there; Temari knew exactly what she was doing.

"Temari...we shouldn't...really-" he hissed half-heartedly, not really meaning to utter the words and not really meaning them either. It didn't send a rush of taboo through him to say them, he just felt it necessary.

"I'm so hot," she breathed, her half-lidded eyes moving restlessly behind her eye lids, "I'm too hot." But what could Genma do about that? He blew gently on her face but his breath was warm.

"You have to go," he murmured.

"Please do it," she groaned, arching back.

"Ah...Temari...I can't..." he muttered, hot streaks of sensation blighting his chest as he thought of Ino, but not of how she may be mad but of how she may be completely indifferent. She didn't want to sleep with him any more, she was bored of it now and it made him feel strange to think it. He felt like their roles in the relationship had changed; he was no longer in charge, Ino was and Ino was confusing him.

"Pretend I'm someone else..." Temari gasped, "please, if you can't fuck me, pretend I'm someone else!" She was desperate.

Genma rested his head on her shoulder, their sexes aligning. _Pretend she's...someone else? Like she's doing?_ It didn't surprise him that she'd almost groaned her lover's name, she wanted it to be him, desperately, and as such she desperately wanted Genma to want her the same way, she wanted him to be passionate and loving with her, even if he was imagining she had lighter eyes and lighter hair and rounder breasts and soft, sharp cried of 'Genma' that he could answer with a low, growled '_Ino'_. But it was wrong, she wasn't Ino, never would be. She had hurt Ino and he didn't think he could imagine her in Temari's place. It would be a step too far.

But he was against her and she was arching towards him, trying to make him slip inside her and it would be so, so easy to. Temari was warm and wet, everything he could ask for, her harsh breath panted out onto his shoulder and her hands curled around his arm, but there was something cold trickling onto his arm from where her eye lashes fluttered against him and there was something about the quality of her breathing that sucked all the pleasure out of her for him. She was crying.

"I...I can't..." he murmured, closing his eyes and sitting up. He sat, back doomed, on the sofa, his head in his hands. _What the fuck did I just do?_ He waited for her to protest, waited for her to reach out to him again and try to persuade him but he got nothing and when he looked at her again she had her eyes closed as tears rivered down her cheeks and her whole face was contorted into silent sobs.

"Temari," he whispered, lifting a hand to touch her.

"No!" she snapped, her eyes wide and startled and her body shirking further into the sofa, "Don't touch me!"

"Temari, I'm sorry-"

"No, don't be, it was my fault wasn't it? I'm sorry," her body relaxed when his hand flopped back down onto his lap, his erection still sticking up embarrassingly prominent. Genma reached for a pillow to cover it. "Do you hate me now?" Temari's small voice whispered.

"No." The automatic response whilst his mind whirred. He dug the heal of his palm into his eyes.

"Maybe you should," she whispered again as if afraid her voice might break if she spoke louder. "I only did it...to make her hate you." Genma's eyes narrowed.

"Her?"

"Ino." He barely caught what she'd said, her voice was tiny. Genma tensed and turned sharply towards the sand kunoichi who was still lying pitifully bare with fat tears rolling over her tanned cheeks.

"Why would Ino..." Genma stopped and gulped, hiding his face behind his fingers, "care," he finished, _oh god will she care!_

"I thought the two of you were..." more tears slid down her cheeks, "I'm just a horrible person!" she cried, curling up on her side and scrunching her hands into fists.

_She wanted to hurt Ino...more?_ Genma couldn't help but hate her slightly.

"Shikamaru loves Ino, and she hates me...but...sh...she loves him too!" she sobbed, _she better not do! _Genma thought, he hoped he'd done his job well enough for her not to be in that predicament any more. "I want him to love me...I want him to love me..." Genma stared at her, wondering how it was that he always seemed to be in the company of sobbing women.

"Temari," he sighed, placing a hand on her bare back and feeling the flinch underneath his fingers, "Shikamaru..." he chose his words carefully, trying to think of what he could say without making the situation worse. To be honest he didn't know anything about the situation. All he knew was Ino's side of it and how she wanted to sleep with men to forget all her past loves that were too painful to remember, Shikamaru included. "...Shikamaru is like Ino's brother," _I think_, "they're not like that, they're not romantic."

"How do you know?" she had turned over onto her back and was staring up at him now with her dark blue, glassy eyes.

"I know Ino," he whispered, "and she knows Shika, she knows how crazy he is about you and she's not so self-destructive as to try and get his attentions when they're firmly fixated on you." Sometimes Genma didn't know where he got all the sentimental, emotional drabble he imparted to all these crying females. Temari's mouth twisted into an ironic smile.

"I heard you had a way with women," she laughed laconically. Genma just smiled sheepishly. "Can...I hug you?" Temari asked suddenly, then seeing the startled look in Genma's eyes felt prompted to add, "just a hug." She was already reaching for him, her long, tanned arms snaking around his neck. Genma could feel her wet tears against his shoulder. "I'm so tired," he heard her mumble, "can I stay here tonight?" Genma sighed.

"You can stay here tonight," he murmured, resting his chin of the top of her head. She could stay there but only because he knew there was no way in hell he wanted to sleep with her now, guilt was running up and down his spine and creating a deep sting in his chest, it was terribly unsexy.

"Will you...will you stay with me...tonight?"

"Stay...?"

"Like this?" she tightened her arms around him to show what she meant. She wanted to stay with him holding her, all night? Was that a good idea? "I don't want to do anything," she told him quite clearly, apparently forgetting that he was naked waist down with his shirt undone and she had her skirt scrunched around her waist, her panties absent and a flimsy scrap of a bra.

"I'm not sure-"

"Please, I'm so tired..." she muttered. Genma laid her back against the pillow gently.

"Maybe..." he answered cryptically, "I need a shower, then we'll see."

She smiled sleepily and closed her eyes, "fine," she murmured.

XXXXXX

He had a quick shower, a _cold_ shower, and as he'd expected Temari was asleep when he got back, still lying partly bare on his couch. He kept his eyes forwards...mostly, feeling like he'd violated a vulnerable woman and when he was on the other side of his door with the door firmly closed he felt only slightly better.

Genma didn't like having women in his apartment – the maid excluded – because it was _his_, his castle, his fortress, a place of unbridled masculinity. He'd let Ino in of course because Ino was different, Genma didn't view her as a woman...well...she was a _woman_ and Genma was only to aware of it but somehow she managed to slip under Genma's radar of being a feminine threat to his fortress.

Genma was dog tired and just fell into bed with his towel still on and damp hair falling into his eyes. Nevertheless he fell into a light sleep, the sort of sleep that was thoroughly useless except on delicate missions that required it, and so when there was movement in his living room he awoke immediately.

When the door creaked open and Temari slid in, padding lightly over to the bed before slipping in next to him, he was hardly surprised. He could feel her breaths were uneven with sobs and her eyes swollen and wet; she was seeking comfort and this he could give her, but nothing more.

He wrapped his arms around her, feeling slightly safer now the parts that mattered were separated from Temari by a thick layer of towelling. He felt Temari snuggle into him her soft sobs evening out the longer he held her.

And then she said something that Genma was surprised at because it seemed so unprompted.

"If you're not with Ino," Temari whispered shakily, trembling slightly against Genma's bare chest, "you really should be."

XXXXXX

Ino tossed and turned in bed.

Her skin itched.

Her head buzzed.

Her heart ached.

_I can't be doing with this!!_ Ino let out a frustrated growl and sat up in her bed. Temari had been gone when she'd got home, as she'd expected, and she'd seen nothing more of her all day. _Must have found somewhere else to sleep tonight_, Ino mused. Or perhaps she'd gone back to Shika and they'd kissed and made up? Ino smiled, those idiots just needed to get over themselves and get on with it.

She wanted Genma, she _really_ wanted Genma, so much so that she couldn't sleep. Her skin itched and a dull ache in her stomach had her banging her fists against her sheets in frustration. _What fun we could have in that Jacuzzi!_ The reasons for not going to his place were wearing thin, especially as the clock read one and the long, lonely night stretched ahead of her.

Ino got out of bed with no _real_ purpose and pretending that she wasn't about to be running out the door and into Genma's apartment. She put on a pair of shoes and a coat over her white pyjamas and stared at her front door. _What am I doing?_ She had been so resolved and strong this afternoon but the night changed things, things that only Genma's warm hands and impassioned cries could fix...

She was out the door like a shot.

Ino hopped over the roofs, finding Genma's apartment block's roof pretty easily and then counting the large, double glazed windows until she got to Genma's. _Genma's place is fancy!_

The window wasn't open but Ino wasn't a ninja for nothing and with a hard shove against the window frame in the right place the lock clicked and gave away, allowing Ino entry. Part of the window latch thudded gently to the floor as Ino open the window and slid through the gap, closing it over silently.

"Genma," Ino whispered as she padded lightly across the floor, her eyes trying to accustom themselves to the light, or lack thereof.

She could see him outlined in the bed and a tight curl of excitement knotted in her stomach and mixed deliciously with the nervousness she was feeling.

"Genma," she hissed again.

There was movement from the bed and the closer Ino got the more her brow furrowed. _What's that?_ Ino peered through the darkness. There was...there was a woman! Ino tried to stop the disappointment from stinging her eyes. Wait, that wasn't just a women that was...

_T...Temari?_

Ino froze, rooted to the spot as a cold chill spread throughout her chest and down her limbs.

Genma was moving, moving Temari, sitting up, rubbing his face. And then he looked up.

_Fuck_. Ino's throat began to constrict. _I have to get out of here!_ And so she ran, before she could let out the sob forming in her chest, and didn't look back.

XXXXXX

Genma woke up because he was sure he could feel eyes on him. The first thing he noticed was that he was far too hot and so pried Temari's hands from his arm and rolled her over then sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

The air in the room didn't feel right, it felt disturbed, electric, upset. The fact that there was someone else other than Temari and himself in the room hit him all of a sudden and his head snapped up at the first sign of movement. _What the hell...Ino!_

Her eyes were the most electric blue he'd ever seen, over flowing with emotion, and...were they tears?

"Ino?"

But in a flurry of movement she was gone; Genma looked down in shock, looked at his bare chest and bare leg sticking out the side of the bed and then Temari's long, smooth back, visible from where the duvet had pooled around her hips, and her messy, sandy hair. What the hell did it look like...? The bedroom door slammed. _Oh Fuck!_

Genma grabbed the towel he'd discarded at sometime in the night and vaulted off the bed, hastily wrapping the towel around his hips and wrenching the door open, flying out the front door after Ino.

"Wait!" he cried in vain as he just had time to see Ino elegantly and deftly take to the roofs.

"Ino! Ino!" Genma yelled after the figure hopping from roof to roof with the beautiful blonde hair billowing behind her.

Genma stared at her until she disappeared and even then it took him a while to drag his eyes away from where she'd been.

"Fuck," he breathed, tugging at his brown hair and feeling he deserved the cold air that was biting at his skin.

"Fuck!" Genma shouted as he retreated inside and slammed the front door closed, why the hell hadn't he locked the front door? At least then she would have been trapped and he could have explained! Explained what? Explained why he was naked in bed with her best friend's girlfriend? "Fuck!" he cried again.

Genma stormed into the bedroom and seized one of the pillows off the bed. He completely ignored Temari, didn't even look at her, didn't even _want_ to look at her, just turned towards the door.

"What happened?" Temari asked, sitting up sleepily in bed, "Is everything okay?"

_No!_

"Yes," he muttered viciously, rubbing his eyes fiercely with the heal of his palm. "I'm going to sleep on the couch."

And he saw no more of Temari that night.

Genma slammed his head back on the arm of the sofa. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Ino was mad. So, so mad! He could tell and she'd been crying! _She was fucking crying!_ He hated himself for making her upset! But of course she would be; Temari was her enemy and Genma had posed had her ally. Even if he hadn't actually slept with her he could appreciate what it had looked like to Ino.

_Well at least she's not indifferent to it..._ was the only point of optimism he could draw from it.

Genma sighed, why was he so mixed up, why was this whole situation so ridiculous? He wanted Ino and Ino wanted him; why were there so many complications in something that was as simple as that?!

Genma turned his back on his bedroom door and sighed again loudly.

_Back to square fucking one!_

* * *

Kyaaaa!! Kiba love in the next one I expect :D

Thanks for reading and reviewing! I looove everyone's reviews!! And sorry again for the wait! And mistakes!

Leave a review if it suits you (which also rhymes ya know) x.


	16. Convenience

-Is bashful- How long did this take me?? It's been the bane of my LIFE! And I'm not even sure it's ready to be released yet!! Oh dear! Well it's very, very, very long; I guess that's sort of it's redeeming feature. And I hope it makes sense :S Sorry for mistakes.

**Warning:** bad language, sexual content and all that!

Enjoy!

* * *

Needless to say after what she saw at Genma's apartment the tossing and turning got a whole lot worse.

Ino's body felt hot and her chest felt tight. A great weight sat over her heart that wouldn't allow her to sleep. Temari had beaten her again and Ino felt worthless.

Why the hell did Temari always pop up when things started run smoothly – not that anything with Genma ever ran completely smoothly but that night had had the potential to be so good!

She should have expected Genma to have found another woman, and the thing that made her stomach twist the most was that even if it had been another woman, other than Temari, she would still have run away and been crazy mad with him. She hadn't been thinking of Shikamaru when she'd fled home and sobbed her heart out onto her pillows, she hadn't been thinking about the irony of Temari having done exactly the same thing the night before. She didn't think about anything but her own jealousy, her own self-pity and her own smashed heart. But now she thought about her best friend she felt the depression mouth ten fold; poor Shikamaru! He'd be absolutely shattered if he found out that Temari had cheated on him; even if they'd 'broken up' everyone knew they hadn't _really_ and so what would happen now? Should she tell Shikamaru? Or would it be best if she didn't? Should she confront Temari? Should she confront _Genma_? But then what would she say to him, she had no reason to be angry, she wasn't meant to be in this deep. But she was.

Ino felt like she was running around in circles. Her head buzzed. She could not sleep.

XXXXXX

Funnily enough it was the same with Genma; something that was heavy and wound uncomfortably tight in his chest was interfering with his sleep and this time there was no ceiling fan to spin slowly above him like a baby's mobile and lull him into a lovely senseless dream world.

If he listened very carefully he could hear Temari's breaths from the next room but that did little to help him either. What a fucking mess this situation was.

Ino had every right to be pissed as hell and then she'd never talk to him again, never look at him with her massive blue eyes or sleep with him, never allowing him to navigate her incredible body ever again...a dour grimace overtook his face. How the hell could he have sabotaged that?

XXXXXX

"Shikamaru, she's _not_ here!"

"Then where is she?"

Ino's eyes opened and her mouth twisted into a scowl. _Not again!_ Without needing anymore thought she sat up and yelled angrily through her bedroom door that had just been flung open by the generally lazy Nara.

"Will you stop barging into my apartment in the early morning?! What the hell is wrong wi-"

"Is Temari here?" _Ugh!_ Ino had had enough of _Temari_; it was certainly too early to be talking about _her_.

"Does it look like Temari's here?" Ino snapped, then to the two sets of startled and enquiring eyes she felt prompted to explain: "No! She's not bloody here!" _She's having luxurious morning sex with Genma is where she is!_

Shikamaru tutted and stormed out the room and just seeing him flouncing around, getting all worked up over _her_, that little sand slut, was making evil anger cloud over Ino's eyes.

"Sorry Ino," Choji said quietly as he sat on the edge of her bed, "he woke me up at six and has been charging around ever since." Ino huffed.

"What the hell is wrong with him?!"

"He just wants to know where she is, then he'll be okay."

"Well if you two are just going to sit there...!" Shikamaru said from the door, trying to keep the desperation and exasperation from his voice and failing, miserably. If you two are going to sit there...what? It wasn't their problem, Ino thought and she sure as hell wasn't getting up to traipse around the village to find a girl who was busy having morning sex with the person _she_ should be having morning sex with.

"Shika, it's early," Choji sighed, his shoulders sagging, "won't she come back at a more reasonable time? If you wait at home I'm sure she'll come and find you."

"Yeah, she'll come back when she's hungry," Ino muttered, smirking evilly. Shika looked at both of them, back and froth between them, dark eyes wide and so very lost; it was disconcerting to see him like that.

"Fine then!" he snapped after a moment's thought, "in that case you can both fuck off." And even a chorus of 'no, wait Shika!' from his two best friends couldn't stop him from stamping out the apartment and banging the door. Choji sighed unhappily but Ino just scoffed.

"She's nothing but trouble!" she grumbled into her pillow as she turned over under her covers. She heard Choji chuckle behind her and roll into a relining position next to her.

"I know, but he loves her and he's our best friend so we have to put up with it. Besides he's completely blind to it; she's the most troublesome thing in the world and he loves her for it." Ino grimaced and turned over to lie on her back, feeling dismayed as her whole body was filled with the memories of laying side by side with Genma just like this, first in the shady woods and then in his extraordinary apartment.

"D'you think you'll ever be like that with someone?" Choji asked leaning over and reaching out a hand to grasp some blonde hair, still sleep dishevelled. Ino shrugged.

"I'd like to think I'm not so foolish but...you never know." Choji laughed.

"You were like that with Sasuke, you know," he snickered as Ino glowered at him.

"I was young and naïve," Ino mumbled angrily, "it wasn't my fault!"

Choji grinned at her, untangling her blonde hair between his fingers.

When Choji smiled the world seemed lighter, Ino didn't know why; he was like a walking security blanket and he was so big and broad now that when he hugged her his arms almost went around her twice. Ino liked the bigness of him and at one point had considered that she might _really_ like that about him but there wasn't a man in Ino's life (with a few obvious exceptions) that she hadn't believed she was somewhat in love with at some point, it was just the way she was.

Choji tilted his head to lie beside Ino's on the pillow, smiling into Ino's eyes and down through her skin, he could get inside her so easily in a way most had never tried and Shikamaru had never cared to. Their lips were so close, almost touching and Ino wondered if she was the only one who could feel the delicious warmness of familiarity curl around them and the urge to cement it with a kiss. How many times had she been in a situation like this with this man? How many times would it just be so easy to vault over the border between friendship and sexuality and dive head first into each other? It would be so simple to be with Choji, so _convenient_ and she categorically knew that if she hadn't decided to be a shinobi and had married young like her mother had it would have definitely been to Choji and she would be keeping his house clean and having his kids by now and everything would be so straightforward.

"Stop looking at me like that." Choji scolded as Ino reined in her eyes from roaming his eyes and cheeks and chin and lips.

"What?"

"Like _that_! You know what you're doing."

"I didn't mean to!" Ino insisted, face scrunching into a frown, "It's just...do you ever think that you and me could just so easily-"

"Ino," he murmured like he was gently chastising a young child, "you and me both know it would be a marriage of convenience and nothing more."

"It wouldn't _have _to be," Ino insisted touching his arm lightly with her fingertips even though she knew it would, even though she knew she was only thinking this because Genma and Shikamaru had hurt her and Choji would shower her in love if she asked seriously for it. Choji exhaled a tired laugh.

"I suppose we'd...have a lot of laughs and we wouldn't have to worry about our parents complicating things; I think mine have been vying for me to get with you ever since I turned twelve!" Ino laughed.

"Yeah, and I guess we know our parents like each other, that would help the wedding go smoothly," Choji smiled.

"And I'd be earning a jounin wage and you'd be head medic, we could buy one of those big posh houses near those fancy little boutique places." Ino laughed again. "And we'd raise our kids there; we'd have the coolest kids." Ino nodded.

"Course we would!"

"and ...the sex would be amazing," Ino smiled cheekily.

"Naturally."

"But...it would all be fabricated because you're my best friend and you always will be; I could never see you as my wife."

"I guess not..." Ino turned and snuggled into Choji, getting bombarded by that sweet, nostalgic smell that surrounded him.

"You know, if we had sex I reckon I'd be too nervous anyway." Ino looked up.

"Why?" Choji shrugged.

"You're intimidating: you're so sexy and confidant and I'd feel weird."

"What?" Ino sat up on the bed, "Choji that's...that's..."

"That's true," he sighed, "and besides I love you far too much to jeopardize this," he indicated between them.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked but she knew exactly what he meant. They were the best of friends, why ruin a winning formula? And besides she needed someone who understood that sexy and confidant on the outside didn't necessarily mean it reached inside the bedroom too, someone like Genma, she guessed.

"Well if it ever went the way of Shika or Temari we'd end up doing all the stupid stuff they're doing now; I _never _want it to be that uncomfortable between us." Ino's heart fluttered; if Choji wanted to be he could play girls as well as Shikamaru played shogi. He was such a _good_ man, he was such a _convenient_ person and when he had to he always knew the words to say. "Besides," Choji said, lying back on the bed with his hands behind his head, "you're a damn drama queen, I could never live with you." Ino's mouth fell open, _scrap that last part about always knowing what to say,_ Ino thought sourly.

"What!" Choji smirked. "You idiot, you had me right there!" Choji laughed.

Ino hugged Choji tightly and pushed her nose into his shoulder breathing in his aura of safety.

"Are you okay?" Choji whispered softly, tipping his chin slightly to look at Ino, "You were crying last night, weren't you?" Ino said nothing, "You're eyes are still red," he murmured softly.

"Hn..." Ino grunted, no, she wasn't really okay. Choji sighed.

"And you only ever talk about 'us' when you've had it bad."

"Hn," she grunted again.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Ino shook her head slowly.

They fell into an amicable silence and after a while Ino turned to snuggle in to Choji's side and he pulled an arm around her shoulders. Choji rubbed his stomach absently.

"You got any crisps here?"

"No," Ino sighed, rolling her eyes and remembering why she could never be with Choji, "I don't." She may be a 'damn drama queen' but he was a damn fat pig, but of course she'd never tell him that to his face.

XXXXXX

Five days later it rained. Torrentially. The weather had been humid for a few days before it finally broke onto the streets and fields of Konoha. Three training grounds flooded and the rivers and lakes became swollen and dangerous and despite the warmness of the rain the streets were deserted and quiet, save for the twittering murmur of small children's play before their mother's swept them inside and scolded them for getting wet.

Genma had been watching such a display before mission activities had got in his way, enjoying the warm rain on his skin and walking the quiet streets alone. He'd returned from a mission which was less of a mission and more of a business conference with a rich lord near the border with Grass country - he'd had to wear a suit and everything! The mission itself hadn't needed to take as long as it had, but even so he was still denying he had been procrastinating in Grass; of course he hadn't, why would he?

Genma had attempted to pretend that he was lingering in Grass because of the very pretty blonde kunoichi that resided in the lord's house, possibly the lord's own personal entertainment. She was absolutely gorgeous and had that melancholic, solitary look about her of a women employed for a meaningful occupation but that is installed for pleasure, never for love or for her functionary purpose but for a rich man's lustful whim; Genma could have shown her love...for one night, anyway, he often enjoyed putting the spark back into those woman's eyes; this one had proved no different and the night he'd managed to convince her to forget everything else and join him in a euphoric union they'd been interrupted and almost caught and then the congenial lord's hackles began to quiver and Genma finished up business quite quickly after that; he didn't fancy staying there any more. He'd learnt that blonde kunoichi's were troublesome, _all_ blonde kunoichi, and there was no where he could hide from them; there were blonde kunoichi on missions and unfortunately there were blonde kunoichi back home too.

Now Genma trudged to Konoha's hospital having been accosted by an ANBU mission's planner who told him to get information about Inoichi's experience with the bastards in Wave country; he hadn't spoken to or of Ino since he'd returned so he presumed she was still going undercover at the compound in wave and he felt it his duty to do everything he could to keep her safe, especially now.

Even the hospital was quiet when he entered it; there was a bored secretary on the desk that didn't even bat an eyelid at him as he walked through the double doors onto the wards and climbed the stairs to Inoichi's ward, and even when he got onto the ward and dripped wetly onto the floor no one told him off for making a mess, no one glared at his audacity, nurses just glided around as if he weren't there. The shinobi's wards too were pretty empty, everyone had been stitched up and sent back out there.

Inoichi's bed was empty, Genma stood at the foot of it and frowned, there were no flowers, no coats hanging up on the hook on the wall, no bags of stuff from home, no sign of human inhabitation at all. Genma chewed quizzically on his senbon.

"Shiranui-san!" Genma turned at the cheery voice of the night nurse that had once caught him and Ino having a cuddle in his hospital bed, he grinned to himself. "You're making a mess on the floor!" she told him, fussing around him and ushering him out of the room.

"Erm – where's Inoichi?"

"Yamanaka-san was discharged," Rei told him, still shooing him along the corridor and off the patient's ward.

"Discharged, when?"

"Just this morning," Rei said cheerfully, finally arriving at the nurse's reception where she stopped manhandling Genma. "You'll get an awful cold if you walk around like that," Rei told him matter-of-factly, pulling at his soaked shirt.

"No, it's okay," Genma said, prying her hands off his shirt.

"You'll get ill!" she insisted.

"I'm fine!"

"Okay." Rei smiled brightly. _Rei is werid_, Genma noted for future reference. "Oh Shirnaui-san, before I forget, Asuma-kun was looking for you the other day." _Asuma?!_

"Oh...really," he offered weakly, knowing he was in for one hell of a beating. Rei nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure he's very happy about you and Ino-san," Rei said pensively. Genma's eyebrows rose.

"What do you mean 'me and Ino' there's nothing happening between-"

"Oh! I get it," Rei winked elaborately, "'_nothing happening_'; cool, it'll be like a secret! Anyway these patient's don't fix themselves, you know. Goodbye Shiranui-san." And she disappeared down the corridor laughing all the way. _Strange girl_.

XXXXXX

And so Genma was off, into the rain again, trying to keep to the awnings this time as he made his was to the Yamanaka household. He briefly thought Ino might be there, briefly knew she would be there since her father had gone home that day, briefly _hoped_ she was there, but he had nothing to say, what could he say? That it wasn't what it looked like? That a naked Shiranui Genma plus a naked, exotic sand chick plus a bed did not equal a night of rampant debauchery and aggressive sex? It sounded stupid, even to him.

He hadn't seen Ino in five day and regardless of everything, as he walked up to the Yamanaka house, he was excited, and giddy, like a _girl_. He wasn't meant to be feeling giddy when he was going to be discussing serious mission based issues with Inoichi; the situation was delicate enough without him bringing his personal feelings into it. He hoped Ino had already told him that she was going on the mission and that his anger had simmered into a smouldering annoyance, but he suspected not.

The Yamanaka house didn't have a doorbell and so he knocked loudly on the door in two respectfully low-key thumps.

Genma was surprised to see Inoicihi standing at the door with a crutch propped under his arm, he had been laughing when he opened the door and Genma began to feel guilty for gate crashing their family time.

"Genma? What the hell you doing out there?"

"I have to talk to you," Genma said, smiling in greeting.

"Mission?" Inoichi asked and could tell by the grave and subtle nod of Genma's head that yes, it was about the mission.

"Sorry for interrupting when you've just got home," Genma said shyly as Inoichi moved aside to let him in.

Immediately a beacon of light and warmth opened up to him; a place of family and safety and comfort that seeped from the walls and into your very soul. There was an eccentric smell in the house; something nostalgic and playful but faintly sexual, possibly because he identified it with Ino.

The front door opened into the kitchen, a cream, clean room with crisp pine cabinets and tables and light burnt orange seated chairs and through an arched doorway behind the table and chairs was a dusky blue hallway and dark wood set of stairs.

"Genma-san!" Yamanaka Kana chirped from the sink, her hands enclosed in the warm soapy water in the washing up bowl and her face bright with smiles; she was beautiful with her long, gently curled hair falling in her blue eyes as she leaned over the sink.

And Ino was there, of course.

Ino was leaning against the kitchen sideboard cradling a cup of steaming tea between her palms; she looked up briefly when her father moved aside to let him in but then she re-rested her bored gaze to the far wall, staring at what appeared to be a family notice board.

She looked completely unconcerned about the whole situation and Genma fought the urge to growl in frustration; nonchalance was boring and not what he wanted. Apparently no one noticed the rigid indifference settling around Ino's shoulders and her mother continued twittering in her sweet, melodious voice; she seemed so different to what Ino had described, and with a sideways glance at Ino he had the idle thought that she must be so relieved that her mother was back.

"I was just about to put on some tea, would you like some tea, Genma-san? You must come through to the back and dry your clothes; I can't believe you came out in weather like this!"

"Err...no, I'm fine, I just came to talk about the mis-"

"Oh nonsense, you're soaked! I want you to come in and put something else on before you do any ninja talk." Ino's mother was a mother hen, he wouldn't have expected that of the tall, slender blonde. "I'll make you some tea," she told him as she bustled around the room pulling out kettles and tea leaves.

"It's okay I just-"

"Let her," came the firm mutter from Inoichi who flashed warning eyes at him and so Genma watched her mutely, "We'll go in the box room, I'll just be two seconds." And then Inoichi was gone and Genma was left with the two tall blondes.

Once the heavy footfalls of Inoichi trailed off Genma felt a guilty entitlement to watch Yamanaka Kana a bit closer than he had been earlier; again he noticed how her frame differed from her daughter, how her delicate elegance was almost bird-like, so fragile he'd be afraid to touch her. He'd touched almost all of Ino at one point and although he could honestly say that Ino's feminine solidity next to him and her strong arms around him was something he'd never get tired of Kana was a pleasurable alternative.

Her breasts weren't as big as Ino's either, or was it that they were just not as round and youthful as Ino's? Now he was staring and the worst part was that he could feel Ino staring at him in turn. And so when Kana left the tea to brew and bustled busily out of the room Genma closed his eyes and sighed, expecting the biting comment before it even came.

"You stay away from my mother," Ino told him sternly but the bemused smirk on her face conflicted with her scolding words and before he could think he'd said the very words he hadn't wanted to say...

"Ino, we need to talk-"

...and so was thankful when Kana returned and interrupted their brief interchange. To say 'we need to talk' just reeked of a troubled relationship, a rift, a fight, an acknowledgement of the awkwardness, and it suggested that there was a victim in amongst this and a person to blame: him, and he was so desperate to be in Ino's good graces again that he was almost willing to deny ever having _been_ at him apartment that night and making up an elaborate lie about Raidou having stayed there, but Ino wasn't stupid.

Ino raised her eyebrows at Genma and gave him a scathing smirk behind her mother's back. Genma took a deep breath; he should have known Ino wouldn't be the forgiving type. Genma didn't like that look and so averted his eyes to the rest of the room, anywhere but her...or her mother. A large and familiar bouquet of golden orange and yellow flowers sat in a complimentary blue vase, and although he hadn't expected them to be displayed in pride of place at Ino's apartment (he suspected they'd probably be laying dead in her kitchen bin) he was surprised to see them here. The flowers had kept well considering they'd been picked three days earlier and had arrived, having been transported from Grass by an incompetent messenger boy, with a hastily tied blue ribbon and poorly cut stems – his own handiwork.

"Nice flowers..." Genma muttered, willing Ino's eyes to look at his so she could see all the accusation and hurt that he wanted her to see at seemingly disregarding his gift.

"They are aren't they!" Ino's mother chirped brightly, reaching out slender fingers to fuss with the arrangement of the flowers and touch the smooth petals, "They just turned up on Ino's doorstep completely out of the blue; but she says she doesn't want them! She doesn't know who sent them," Kana leaned in towards Genma conspiratorially, "or so she claims." Genma managed a tight smile in response to Yamanaka Kana's cheerful grin. Ino didn't move for a moment and adamantly avoided Genma's eyes that were boring a hole in her.

At length she shrugged.

"Marigold's mean cruelty," she said, meeting Genma's eyes for a fleeting moment, "and they shouldn't be put with yellow carnations."

"It's the thought that counts, Ino," Kana scolded with a sharp look over her shoulder at her daughter.

"Hn."

"Okay," this was Inoichi who made his presence known with a firm hand on Genma's shoulder which made him feel very young, something he rarely felt, but it was nonetheless unwelcome. Genma shook off his hand, took a quick glance at Ino to see that she was once again looking away and smiled shyly at Ino's mother who returned it at ten times the voltage.

Inoichi ushered Genma up the stairs and into the 'box' room. It was very like his own storage room where he kept his weapons except a bit more ordered and a lot less cluttered. At intervals drawers or boxes would be labelled 'Ino' and it was notable that these had significantly less contents, mostly jutsu scrolls still to be learned or small handled weapons made for practice for ninja children.

Like his own house every corner of it had been thoroughly cleansed of all traces of shinobi inhabitancy but this one, small room was proof of the ninja under its roof, and this would be deliberate, of course, since a shinobi family would ever be a target for petty thieves, underhand operations and rouge sinobi travellers but he suspected there was also something of Ino's mother in this scheme; at home Inoichi was a man, a father, a husband, a family man, outside he could be a deadly shinobi but not in this place, this place was warm and sacred, blood and danger just didn't fit in with the rest of the house.

"So, what about the mission?" Inoichi said as he sat behind a desk-like construct that was actually simply two planks of wood nailed together at one end and to the wall at the other.

"Since you never handed in a written report and you're still off duty I've got to collect your findings from you directly." Inoichi's eyes glittered.

"So _you_ have to do all my work as well as your own?" The narrowing of Genma's eyes signalled that yes, he did. Inoichi laughed, "Fine, fine, what do you want to know?"

"We want to know about the people especially, Shikaku could just about give us enough information of the buildings for us to put together a map but he said you dealt with the people the most." Inoichi sat back in his chair and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Well...If I'm honest Miyagi isn't so bad," Genma quirked an eyebrow as he settled himself in a chair with papers strewn across it, Miyagi Izurou, their big time crime lord turned politician didn't seem 'not so bad' to him. "It's his guards that are the problem."

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh', I don't know whether they just expected an infiltration or they're always like that but they definitely did not trust us, from the very beginning they always had their eyes on us, made it difficult to move around."

"Hmm," Genma mused, flicking a senbon into his mouth, "that's what Shikaku said." He brooded silently and dared himself to ask the question that he knew he had to next, the question he'd been directed to ask next: "what about...what about a girl? Do you think they'd be more likely or less likely to take kindly to one?"

"Oh they'd take kindly alright," Inoichi said darkly, "the place is full of hired mercenaries, all male, there's more testosterone in there than the Jounin building's weights room," Genma smirked slightly, recalling the primping and posturing that went on in the jounin's weights room and how he himself had done just the same at a younger age, every male had, but the smirk died very quickly when he remember that at some point he'd have to be telling Inoichi that his beautiful daughter would be going in amongst all that testosterone.

"Miyagi's personal guard is an entourage of people, he's got everything: body guards, house guards, spies amongst his men, spies in other countries, medics, chefs, food tasters...and they're all sworn to protect him no matter what." Genma's shoulders sagged as soon as 'medics' came into it.

"Aren't his normal soldiers sworn to protect him too?" Inoichi shook his head.

"No – sworn to _serve_ him, but not protect; that would make him look weak, the trick is for him not to look like he needs protecting, there aren't many who know the extent of his personal guard – I heard of it whilst using the mind transfer jutsu."

"Did you ever try to get into his personal guard?"

"No, by the time I discovered it they had already had the tip off that we were working for Leaf."

"But is it possible? I mean...our new girl - do you think...do you think she could get into Miyagi's personal guard?" Inoichi cocked and brow and thought for a second, taking a long in breath and sighing it out once he had collecting his thoughts.

"The idea is insane," Inoichi said, "If she's found out she'll be worse that slaughtered," Genma held Inoichi's steady gaze, waiting for his definite answer, "but...yes, I think if it were a woman with an outstanding skill then yes, it could work."

Genma remembered the tickle of Ino's chakra enter his unconscious body before the outstanding sensation of his own chakra turning in on itself and healing his own wounds and shivered.

"Well she is outstanding," Genma mumbled.

"What?"

"No, nothing, it doesn't matter." Inoichi watched Genma closely, trying to discern the look on his face and it made Genma uncomfortable, as if at any moment he'd find out the horrible secret and kill him for ever thinking that his daughter might infiltrate the personal guard of a man who was wanted in five different countries.

"Sorry about this," Yamanaka Kana's bright face popped around the door, thankfully drawing the blonde's attention away, "Inoichi can I borrow you for a second?" and with a sweet smile her face disappeared again.

"No where in this house is safe!" Inoichi grumbled as he planted his hands on the desk and heaved himself to his feet, "can't get a moment's peace," Genma heard the elder man mumble as he turned to go. "I'll be two minutes," Inoichi said grumpily before he followed his wife out the room.

In all fairness to Genma he did wait the designated two minutes before he decided to go walkabouts, and he did stand up and sit down twice before he summoned the courage to stick his head around the door and check that no one was around before he stepped out onto the landing and took a good look around. He'd idly picked through the papers on Inoichi's desk, finding a weapons magazine and flicking through it, thoroughly uninterested with its contents; he'd shuffled around with most of the weapons in the room and tried to decipher the jutsu scrolls (unsuccessfully) before he went to see where Inoichi was, after all he didn't have _all_ the time in the world.

There were quite a lot of open doors and so it wasn't like any of the rooms seemed explicitly forbidden. A bathroom lay behind the first door he tried, tiled in a light, pastel green with a shower over the bath and a green patterned shower curtain of about the same shade as the tiles. Fluffy white and green towels that toned in agreeably with the rest of the room were drying on a radiator by the door and set into the wall above the sink was an enormous bathroom cabinet with a mirror on the door. A pleasant miss-match of colour clashing bottles cluttered the window sill and the bag Inoichi had kept his washing stuff in at the hospital lay unattended next to the bottles. It was all very clean and sparkling but not oppressively so, the untidy window sill was testament to the people that lived there; he liked it because at his own home if he left anything out on the side it would be tidied away to achieve the perfect 'show home' look.

The next room was obviously a guest bedroom because it look still and untouched and a man's tuxedo hung on the back of the mirrored wardrobe, safe from harm in the solitary room. Everything was beige, the carpets, the walls, the bedspread and it contrasted nicely with the sharp pine furnature, same as was in the kitchen. A box of tissues sat on the bedside table and a beige lamp on the other, a non-purpose chair in the corner next to a table with an equally non-purpose writing pad, stark and blank. Guest bedrooms confused him, what was the point in them? He had one of course and it was never, ever used, his visitors, scarce though they were, generally slept in his bed. He promised himself he'd turn his spare bedroom into a games room as soon as he had the time off work but any time he ever had off work he wiled it away drinking, fighting, sleeping or having sex; he was a simple man with simple needs.

There was nothing interesting in the spare room, even when he snooped around in the drawers and so he crept out again and approached the next room. Unlike the last the bed was unmade, someone had slept there recently, and unlike the last room it was certainly not made up of neutral, unisex colours and bland monochrome decoration; on the contrary the walls were a lilac purple colour with a border of pink flowers. The bed was one of the most extravagant he'd ever seen, a large western style princess's bed with white painted wood and a canopy with pink drapes and swirling purple patterns. Fluffy cushions littered the bed and made it look like more of a nest than an actual bed for humans, a big pink nest.

It was quite obviously Ino's room, he didn't need to scrutinise the pictures in their wrought silver frames to tell it was Ino's; there were two of her team, one of them at a very young age and another including Asuma, possibly when they were genin because Asuma looked pretty young. There was one of Sakura and Ino on a night out pouting ludicrously at the camera both pretty young, maybe sixteen or so.

The room was thick with Ino's unique, intoxicating smell, a scent that conjured up dirty and shameless images behind his eyelids of smooth pale skin stretched before him, the warmness of it under his hands and the taste of it under his lips and the cloudy blue gaze that would watch him dreamily and contort and change as his fingers slid over her.

He knew it was a _massive_ invasion of privacy to go snooping in her drawers but there was one, set into the surface of her dressing table, which was so invitingly ajar that he couldn't resist but pull it open all the way. Inside was a confusion of pink and white fluff and purple hardback with a glittering of sparkles, the object was a book, a number of books actually, the first with the deliciously tempting word 'Diary' printed in block capitals across the top of it. He _really_ shouldn't, really, _really_ shouldn't pick it up but his hands were moving on their own and before he knew it the book was open in his hands and a messy, youthful scrawl was drawing his eyes in.

The first date was the 23rd September almost eight years ago and from the script he could just make out that it was Ino's thirteenth birthday, the rest was boring, she jabbered on exactly how he would have imagined a thirteen year old girl to babble on, about boys and clothes and shoes and the injustices of life and how no one really understood her; quite a large sections of every day's page was taken up with talk of Sasuke and of how he'd looked at her or touched her or ignored her and that he was so obviously in love with her even if he didn't know it himself.

Genma flicked to the back and read the last entry 18th May of six years ago and read, with wide and slightly disgusted eyes, as the fourteen year old Ino poured her heart out onto the page; she had heart ache again, but not over Sasuke this time but over Asuma! He couldn't believe it and re-read it several times over but each time it still read the same, 'no one will understand our love, but I do love Asuma-sensei and I know he loves me...' Genma had to stifle the giggles. Flicking through her diary Genma realised Ino had been in love with _everyone_; Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, Asuma, Kiba, Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru again, Neji, even Lee, but unfortunately never Sakura, and even more unfortunately the diary didn't document any confused, hormone infused encounters between Ino and her pink haired best friend, but never mind, he could make them up in his head just as well without the literary evidence.

Genma set the diary down on the dressing table and pulled out the sparkly, fluffy participant of the drawer. He snorted at the title on the front written in an elaborate script in glitter pens 'Ino's Wedding Book'. He turned to the first page quickly and silently, sending a cascade of glitter to the floor. Apparently Ino had wanted to be a wedding planner at a younger age and this book told it all, there were horse drawn carriages of every shape and size, some drawn by a childish hand and other cut out of magazines, then there were a few pages of locations (most extremely extravagant buildings in the more richer countries), next were wedding cakes but the largest section by far was the wedding dress section where every type of wedding garment one could think of had been painstakingly cut from magazines, from patterned silk kimonos to huge white princess gowns.

The last section of the book was affectionately titled, 'my weding' in a childish scrawl of more glitter pens and bits of stuck on material; Ino wanted it all, she wanted the big dress, the horse drawn carriage, the pretty pink bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, red, white and pink roses, a far cry from the pretty golden flowers he'd chosen for her, the venue – a hugely beautiful stately home on fire's border surrounded by lush green grass and large fruitful trees; the man that married her would have to be loaded, more loaded than him that was for sure.

It was strange that he'd never thought of Ino and marriage in the same context because it was obvious to group them when he thought about it. Everything about her room amounted to the problems she had with men now, she was too trusting, too eager to fall in love and get married and have it all. It kind of made him sad; Ino really did love love, she really did believe in it in a way he'd never cared to and although the wedding book was just a silly childish scrap book it symbolised her infatuation with it, even Genma could understand that.

Genma set the wedding book back in the drawer with the diary and turned to stare at the pictures stuck around the white framed mirror; they were pictures of models mostly, models from Snow country with impossible figures of skin and bone with voluptuous breasts and bums. Genma wondered when she'd stuck them there as their sultry smiles and large, shadowy eyes and deep red uniforms of skimpy clothing just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the room's girlish charm.

"What the hell are you doing?" The bitter sting in the voice actually made him flinch. _Ino...Fuck._ Genma turned very, very slowly, raising his eyes to Ino's face very, very hesitantly.

"Erm...I was..." Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Thought it was the bathroom?" she snapped viciously.

"Er...yeah," but Ino hadn't stopped to listen to his pitiful excuse and had instead walked over to her open drawer, examined the contents disgustedly for half a second and then closed it with a sharp bang before wheeling around on Genma.

"What the hell...?! You...you saw-"

"I didn't see anything!" Genma said quickly, raising his hands in surrender, "I swear!" Ino glared at him.

"Well if you did you better forget it!" she bit but the pink blush on her cheeks told him she was embarrassed by what was in that drawer. Genma thought to smirk for a second but quickly decided against it. "I thought you were supposed to be talking to my father," Ino snapped, now flustered.

"He went somewhere, I was just trying to find him." Ino snorted.

"In my room? You've got a cheek even coming here, never mind being in my room! And I bet you haven't told him I'm coming on the mission yet have you?"

"I thought you were going to." Genma retorted lamely. Ino just glared at him, not saying a word. "You...you got the flowers then?" Genma asked shyly.

"I got them." Ino answered impassively. "Where did you get them from?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was out of Konoha for a few days," Genma muttered shyly, "went to Grass country...they had some lovely gardens there..."

"You stole them?"

"Yeah well someone had just left them outside! I saw them on the night and I thought if I woke up and they were still there I'd take them." Genma chanced a smirk and Ino couldn't help but give a small snort of laughter.

"You're an idiot," Ino told him, trying to keep the fondness out of her voice and Genma must have cottoned on to this because his next words pleaded to the very part of her that wanted to produce that tone.

"Ino, I'm so sorry, can't we just be friends again?!" Genma blurted out. "She just came over to stay the night, nothing bad or anything she just needed a place to stay!" Well at least it was almost the truth, "I came out of the shower and got into bed, that's why I was naked, we didn't do anything-"

"Genma, I don't care," Ino said, sounding harassed and stressed as she rubbed at her temples with her fingers, "who you sleep with doesn't really concern me, does it? I'm not your keeper." But despite her cool words there was acid in her tone.

"No, but-"

"And as your _friend_ I'd prefer that you didn't outright lie to me."

"Ino, I'm not lying-"

"So you're telling me that you didn't lay a finger on her when she was in your apartment?" that sharp tone was back.

"I...we..." Genma floundered for the right words; how could he tell her he was angry and upset that she'd rejected him without actually telling her that she'd made him angry and upset?

"There's no point," Ino said wearily, "she hasn't told Shikamaru and they're back together...for now anyway."

"But Ino, we _didn't_ sleep with each other!"

"Stop it," Ino hissed, "It isn't my business anyway, I just thought that maybe you'd want...never mind."

"Maybe I'd want what?"

"I said 'never mind'!"

"Maybe I'd want you?" Ino's eyes snapped up to his.

"...no," Ino denied childishly but her hesitation meant 'yes'.

"Because I did, that's why I asked you. Maybe I wouldn't have let Temari sleep at my house if you hadn't turned me down but _she_ came to _me_. She was upset because of Shikamaru and yeah, she wanted us to have sex but we _didn't_, because I knew how mad you'd be with me." Ino snorted.

"Oh you're such a martyr," Ino scoffed, "you're saying that when she was throwing herself at you a mercy fuck never once entered your head?"

"Well maybe it did but I changed my mind, didn't I?! And I didn't in the end because of _you_!" Ino said nothing but looked away, her chest rising rapidly as she tried to keep her anger in check with deep breaths; she didn't believe a word he said. "Do you really have such a low opinion of me?"

"I just know what you're really like," Ino hissed, "so it probably is a low opinion; I should have known you'd jump into bed with the next woman you saw after I turned you down-"

"We didn't 'jump into bed'." Ino closed her eyes and ran a stressed hand through her hair, taking a few claming breaths.

"No, I'm not going to get angry with you, look I'm sorry Genma, what you do is your own business, I'm just embarrassed that I had to walk in on it." Ino looked away, her eyes downcast and looking utterly miserable, "Just Shika will be devastated if Temari leaves him, despite everything I've told him he loves her..." Ino rolled her eyes, "I guess I just feel like she's pushing me out of everything...I mean, I know it's all the same to you but...Temari?!"

"No! It's not just 'all the same' when I'm with you though, is it?" Genma yelled helplessly, his mouth running away with him again. There was a silence in which Ino's face contorted into a sarcastic, confused frown.

"I...it's not?" Genma sank down onto Ino's bed, she was angry again. "What do you mean 'it's not the same'? What the hell did you two do together? Is there some kind of sand bitch slutty bedroom act that I'm not aware of? Hm? Is that why all my men are going to fucking _Temari_?!"

"I didn't mean that!" Genma yelled, then remembering the situation dropped his head into his hands and sighed, he really needed to be quiet.

"Well fuck if I know what you _do_ mean," Ino hissed. Genma sighed.

"Ino nothing happened, she came over, said she'd broken up with Shikamaru and slept on my couch; I never invited her over, when she knocked I thought it...might be you, that's the only reason I answered. I-"

"Okay! I said it was okay, they're back together now, no one knows about it, it's fine."

"_You_ know about it," Genma said negatively, eyeing Ino sceptically, "are _you_ okay with it?"

"I just said I was didn't I?" Ino hissed.

"Then why were you mad at me?"

"I wasn't...! I wasn't mad at you," Ino ended in a mumble.

"No?" Genma stepped forward.

"No," Ino clarified. Genma's eyebrow remained raised, "I was just angry that you'd sleep with another man's girlfriend." Ino stated solidly, holding her stance a little squarer.

"_You_ turned me down, remember? And I went home womanless, I wanted it to be you, you know that really, don't you Ino?"

He reached his arm out and slid it gingerly around her waist, pulling her forward. He could feel the tension in the body pull her taut against him and smirked.

"I...I..." she wanted to shout at him more and push him away, she wanted to tell him how hurt she was, she wanted him to plead with her and say he only wanted her but at the same time she wanted none of that, she wanted him to leave her alone and stop making her fall for him, stop making her stutter for the words to say simply because of his close proximity.

"And I didn't sleep with his girlfriend," Genma murmured, "she wanted me to pretend to be Shika and I couldn't do it, what would be the point with me pretending she was you and her pretending I was him?" he asked. Ino made the mistake of looking at his eyes, they were a soft chocolate colour. God, he was playing her like a board game.

Genma could see her melting in his arms but ironically this time he meant every word; he hadn't lied to her once, everything he'd said was true even if it didn't sound like the truth.

"I doubt that would st-" Ino tried to say, holding on to the last dregs of bitterness she could muster but as always Genma knew exactly how to placate her. He kissed her. Once again he'd turned the heavy atmosphere into a passionate, debauched encounter in less than a minute, but Ino didn't want to fight anymore, she wanted to hold onto him, like he was holding on to her.

It was so much easier to twine her arms around his neck and allow his tongue to slide between her lips; it was so much easier to lean into him and feel the tension and anger drain from her body. She'd forgive his sins because, even if he had slept with Temari, her anger was pointless; as she'd said before she wasn't his keeper.

She stopped thinking about that as soon as he had her on the bed; this moment was so fleeting and exhilarating, this moment was why she'd decided to have casual lovers, it was all about the passion and irresponsibility and although if she concentrated hard she could feel threads of warmth spiralling around in her chest it blended with excitement to make the sweetest and most sinful cocktail.

Genma removed her arms from his neck, pinning them to the bed and almost immediately felt the pleasant sensation of her long calves sliding over his thighs and her warm thighs encasing his hips, crossing her feet behind his back; she had him pinned too.

Genma kissed her soundly once more on the lips before moving south, planting kisses along her jaw and down onto her neck, feeling the air rushing through her throat as she breathed in excited breaths.

What would happen if they were caught? How mad would Ino's father be? Adrenaline rushed through Genma's body and almost like a seductive pull he could almost feel it rushing through hers too, causing strangled little moans to whisper from her lips and her fingers to flex, winding around his own when he supplied them for her to grab onto. Their fingers slipped together as their mouths found each other again and the beginnings of a masculine bulge slid soundly between her legs through their clothes. The argument was forgotten, Temari was forgotten. Nothing had really been resolved but once again everything was okay between them.

A gentle rocking of Genma's hips sent two tremoring moans into the air. Genma stilled immediately.

"Shhh," he hushed, chuckling.

"You did it too," Ino murmured, sliding her hands from above her hair to hold his jaw as she kissed him.

For the second time that day Genma felt very young but this time it was the adrenaline infused thrill of fooling around silently in a girl's bedroom whilst their parents sat unknowingly downstairs. It was exciting.

Genma could hear Inoichi's voice downstairs getting nearer but he carried on kissing Ino, even when a dangerous creak sounded on the stairs. He didn't want it to end at kissing; how amazing would it be to strip her naked and lick every inch of her body right there, right then on her pink, girly bed in her purple, girly room? So very, very amazing.

"That's my dad," Ino whispered through kiss swollen lips.

"Hm."

"You have to go."

"Hm."

"He'll...ah...Genma he'll kill you if he finds you!" That got his attention.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled as he grumpily got up and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Genma you've got to go!-"

"Alright! I just need a minute!" Genma tried to exclaim quietly, motioning his head to the bulge in his trousers. Ino giggled.

"Oh, I see."

"Hm." Genma drew a hand over his eyes and screwed his face in concentration. Ino couldn't even imagine what he was thinking to try and calm himself down but a few minutes later he stood up. "Right, I'm ready," he turned and smiled at Ino, "I'd kiss you goodbye but he'll wake up again and Inoichi will think I'm weird if I get a hard on around him." Ino huffed a dry laugh.

"Okay, bye."

Her head fell into her hands once the door had closed; it was spinning.

Why the hell had she let Genma off so easily? Why the hell was she willing to believe he hadn't slept with Temari? Why the hell did his happy go lucky arrogance thrill her so much? She felt miserable, she wanted to cry, there was so much emotion she had to vent.

Ino sighed and went to the drawer she'd found Genma in; it was so embarrassingly pink and fluffy in there and the wedding book...

"Ughh," Ino groaned, cringing as a layer of glittery sparkled fell from the front of the book.

The book was a symbol of a naïve twelve year old's hopes and dreams; a naïve twelve year old that had never really been banished until about a month ago and even then Ino wasn't sure that inner romantic was completely out of her system, she was still there, lurking, making her jealous of Temari, hurt because of Shika and desperately in love with Genma and it made her mad at herself. She felt it wasn't fair to be angry with Genma, he wasn't the one to blame for shagging women, that was what he was like and he made no pretence that he was any difference, she was the big fraud, pretending she could be a player when she was so hopelessly lost in love for Genma.

Ino decisively walked over to the bin and shook some of the glitter off into it. She stared down at the book she'd spent days, weeks, _months_ perfecting and preening, making absolutely _perfect_ but it all seemed pretty pointless now.

The book slipped from her fingers and into the bin.

Ino didn't want to get married anymore.

XXXXXX

Genma had 100 completely forgotten that he should be avoiding Asuma and so when he waltzed into the jounin break room after he'd presented his findings from Inoichi to his mission's planner he got a very nasty shock indeed.

"Genma!!" A punch sent him flying back against the wall and before he could comprehend who'd hit him, before the pain had even hit he was flailing out his own reciprocation which hit his target right in the jaw, his cigarette falling from his mouth and sending a cascade of red hot embers all over the place. "Ah! Fuck," Asuma cursed, sucking his burnt fingers, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry Asuma," Genma chuckled nervously, "I didn't realise it was you-" but by the time he'd said it he was being hoisted up against the wall by the collar. "Ufh," Genma groaned as he hit the wall with a thump, "what are you-"

"You stay away from Ino, okay?"

"I wasn't doing an- ah!"

"Do you hear me!?"

"Alright, alright, I hear you!"

"You better fucking hear me," Asuma growled, his dark eyes flashing the promise of a menacing fury. Genma reckoned he could take Asuma in a fight...maybe, but he wasn't going to fight him over Ino, he expected Asuma felt like how he'd felt when Ino had walked out of Jirou's apartment, or when he'd heard what Kaito had been spreading about her.

"I do, I've got it," Genma chocked, grabbing Asuma's hand in a vain attempt to loosen the hold. He twisted Asuma's hand until something cracked and the hand immediately let go with a yelp of pain that left Asuma staring form his hand to Genma, then back again.

"You...you...you asshole!" All there was to do now was run and run very fast, down the steps, out the door then onto the roofs, trying not to panic as the sound of thumping footfalls and heavy breathing followed him all around the village and back.

XXXXXX

By the time Genma paused on a roof top he'd been running for a good hour and, once he'd checked around to find the coast well and truly clear, collapsed in a crumpled heap on top of the building. He didn't fancy going home now as no doubt the crafty jounin teacher would be lying in wait at his apartment waiting to ambush him, and besides his apartment was across about another seven or eight roofs and he felt too tired to keep hopping between them.

Genma slid down the roof onto the balcony of one of the top floor rooms, from there he hung over the edge and counted five floors up and two balconies along before wearily flopping from balcony to balcony, excusing his conduct blandly to anyone he encountered until he arrived at his chosen destination.

He knocked on the glass door until his knuckles hurt, and when it did begin to throb with pain he repeated the action with just as much vigour, once, twice, three times before the door was begrudgingly slid open by a bleary eyed Raidou.

"Yhn?" Genma supposed this was his greeting and an inquiry as to the motive for his visit all in one inarticulate syllable.

"I need to hide," was all Genma said as he slid past Raidou and secured the door.

"Hn?" Raidou rubbed his eyes tiredly and Genma guessed he'd had a drink with lunch.

"Asuma's chasing me," he said glumly as he dropped heavily onto the long and luxurious 'L' shaped couch. Raidou laughed heartlessly and stumbled over to the other leg of the couch before flopping onto it.

"Asuma wants to killl youu," he slurred sleepily.

"Hm."

XXXXXX

Throwing out the book was harder than she'd thought it would be and after she'd retrieved it from the bin and dropped it back there twice Ino finally stomped out the room and busied herself in work for the rest of the day. She wondered when someone would tell her about the intricacies of the mission she was going on but decided not to worry about it yet; Genma would tell her all she needed to know, he at least owed her _that_ right?

A few people were meeting around Sakura's that evening and she decided to tag along but she didn't feel much like drinking, chocolate ice cream and a hot water bottle was more her idea of what this evening should be like and so as the sky began to turn darker and the heavens began to open Ino found herself sauntering home through the rain; it was warm rain and although it was dark and pretty spooky looking what with the eerie pitter patter of rain soaking up the sound of following footsteps, Ino could just never find it in her to be scared in Konoha, and besides, she could handle herself.

It was quite nice walking in the rain, it let her set her mind straight. She guessed as far as Genma was concerned they were fucking again (or more correctly rolling around on the nearest flat surface again) and if they were fucking again it meant they weren't fighting again; she could put her anger on hold, and had got good at withholding anger then using it against her target when it suited her; if she ever wanted a favour off Genma all she had to do was whip out the 'well you slept with my best friend's girlfriend' line and there was nothing he could do to resist her.

The rain had got heavier since she set out from Sakura's and it was getting hard to see the road in front of her feet and so Ino paused for a while under a closed shop's awning. She peered out into the rain, wondering what to do next. What she needed was a convenient stranger, someone Choji-esque but without the complicated emotional history, someone she could fall in love with without worrying, and someone she could fall out of love with without worrying just as easily. Forcing herself to fall out of love with Genma was impossible and Ino was beginning to believe that she had never actually fallen out of love before, just transferred feelings onto others, and if she had done it before surely she could...

A chakra signature suddenly flickered behind Ino and every fibre of her body became alert.

"Hello little girl," Ino froze, poised, "Would you like to come and see my puppies?" a low voice whispered in her ear. Ino jerked and turned quickly ready to let all hell loose until Kiba's grinning face came into view. "Hey," he said, still grinning an impish grin, "did I scare you?"

"I thought it was an old pervert!" Ino exclaimed in mock outrage, peering at him through the torrent of rain, "but it was a young pervert instead." Kiba gave her a withering look before his usual grin came back and he slung an arm amicably around her shoulders, so that she was encased inside his coat and shielded from the rain that was now slanting under the awning.

"You're getting soaked," Kiba commented off-handedly, "You know my place is just around the corner," he murmured against her ear, possibly because he didn't feel like yelling through the hard beat of the rain on the pavement and possibly partly because he just wanted to put his lips close to her skin.

This was it, this was her convenient stranger and rough Kiba sex might also be an opportune way to vent her anger as well. Two birds, one stone.

"Yes." Ino answered without thinking.

"Yes?"

"Erm...I mean okay, let's go."

XXXXXX

It had begun to rain outside and it obscured Genma's view of the window he'd been watching opposite, the one with the young dogs in it that had jumped at each new fat drop of rain that fell onto the window and tried to attack it through the glass. Genma liked dogs; he'd always said he'd get one but, like so many other things, had never got around to it.

Two figures darted through the rain, their identities obscured by the heavily falling drops. The first warning signal that went off in his brain was triggered by the blonde, blonde hair that was revealed when they got under the overhang of the building opposite and the man lifted his sheltering arm from over her head. _Oh fuck_. It was only Ino. _It would be fucking Ino wouldn't it?_ Genma sighed, watching greedily with a stalker's intent as she moved around the man she was with.

They were walking into his apartment, no not walking but running through the rain and Genma could almost hear the soundless giggles that he could see forming on Ino's mouth. He watched the boy touch her, extended brushes of his fingers against her back or arms as they struggled through the rain to get up to his apartment's door and unlock the entrance...the house with the dogs, that's the one they were going in to. He wondered if Ino knew that the young man she was with was trying it on with her, or did she think it was innocent?

They went out of view for a second and Genma willed Ino to stand in the window so he could see her, see that she wasn't reciprocating his touches; she wasn't, she was bending down and stroking the dogs, a silly smile crossing her mouth as she spoke to them, undoubtedly inarticulate baby speak but nonetheless kind of endearing.

She looked up suddenly, towards the back of the apartment and nodded her head, standing up and brushing herself down before following the direction her voice had gone and she moved out of sight of the window. She was...what the hell was she doing over there? In _his_ apartment, Kiba's apartment. Genma knew Kiba, and in any other situation he would have said Kiba was a good man, a good shinobi that he'd fought beside in the past on missions, a promising talent. Man was Genma jealous of him now.

Genma sighed, he didn't blame Kiba, who wouldn't try it on with Ino? And with Ino attempting to counter love with sex she would naturally say yes. A headache began to form around Genma's temples and the more he tried to explain away the stress he felt the larger the headache grew. But he didn't feel angry, on the contrary he felt kind of sad and tired and worn out. He wanted to go around and just tell them 'no, just no, just don't do that' without needing any reason too. He didn't know the reason, he didn't want to know.

Genma watched for ten more minutes willing her to come back to the window, willing for her to go out, back into the dark and the rain but she didn't. The light went off in the living room of the apartment, plunging the once illuminated window into darkness and Genma into his solitary and deeply troubled ideas of what exactly was happening across the road from him.

XXXXXX

A sidelight was already on in Kiba's living room when they entered his house and shook the rain from their hair.

"So the puppies don't get scared in the dark," Kiba explained sheepishly, pulling off his jacket and dropping it onto a radiator by the door.

A clamour of barks erupted from the arched doorway to their right and nine puppies, plus Akamaru bounded towards Kiba, intent on running full pelt into him. After a quick head count he groaned.

"Shiro!" he called into the living room.

The small white dog was there, sitting proudly on the back of the sofa chewing happily on a newspaper.

"Oh god," Kiba sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "I really wish you'd stop doing that." At the sound of his master's voice the dog jumped down and trotted over, wagging his little tail happily at Kiba, who frowned at the dog. When he turned back Ino was bending down and fussing around the puppies and Akamaru, smiling as the large white dog's nose snuffled against her ear whilst the puppies tested their jaws and nipped painlessly at the ankles.

Kiba watched a trail of water trickle from Ino's hair down her cheek, along the curve of her neck, over her glistening collarbones and down between her breasts. _Nice._

"I'll get you a towel," Kiba muttered, drawing Ino's eyes towards him. She smiled hesitantly and nodded, standing up once the dogs followed Kiba out the room and sitting down on the sofa.

"You want a drink?" he called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, okay."

"Beer okay?"

"It's fine."

Ino looked around his place; it was quite typically a bachelor pad: kinda messy, muted colours, full of high tech gadgets and weaponry. Ino could only think that Kiba had one hell of a cleaner because dog hair was at a minimum in the living room.

Kiba returned from the kitchen with two bottles and two towels and ushered the dogs inside, closing the door behind him.

"Oh...you don't have to do that for my benefit."

"Oh no it's not that," Kiba told her, crossing the room to sit beside Ino on the couch, "it's Akamaru, since the puppies came he gets weird around women I slee - er – people...I have round." Ino smirked and snorted into her bottle; at least they were on the same page, though. She took the towel and scrunched her hair with it, hoping to achieve a wavy, tousled look but probably just achieving a messy, caught-out-in-the-rain look. Kiba didn't seem to mind though, on the contrary he seemed quite enthralled when she dabbed her neck and chest with the blue towel he'd given.

"You know...you never did get me a birthday present," Kiba said gingerly as if he wasn't sure Ino would understand his inference.

"I think, if I remember, you didn't stay awake for it," Ino said quietly.

"Well, I'm awake now, aren't I?"

Ino's lips curled into a mischievous smile just moments before he kissed her. She was glad it was happening so fast, she needed 'so fast' right now; she felt like she needed an easy encounter with no emotional turmoil just nice, clean (or perhaps not so clean) sex and the freedom to lie there afterwards or leave as she pleased.

Kiba moved against her, pulling strands of wet blonde hair back from her face and slanting his mouth more firmly over hers, his tongue delving between her lips and kissing away the rain that ran from her hair down her face and got caught up in the kiss.

At that moment Kiba seemed so much more convenient; if Ino fell in love with him it would be okay, there was no overt rule that she couldn't or that he would definitely break her heart like she felt with Genma; there was none of that passionate tension like there was with Genma which, although it was exhilarating at the time, had disastrous repercussions. And plus Kiba tasted really nice, and sounded really nice, really solid and masculine.

His hand moved up her thigh and even this simple movement made her shiver, his hand felt so warm and as it slid over her hip and he pulled her forward into him she found his torso was even warmer.

She hadn't even noticed that his hand had taken hers and so when he pulled back and pulled her from the sofa to a stand she started slightly.

Kiba cocked his head towards his bedroom, a silent question that was answered by the equally silent answer from Ino – a cheeky smile that most definitely gave him permission to pull her after him and close his bedroom door.

They came together in a slow kiss when Kiba turned towards her, both sets of hands following the outline of the other's body and skirting around the edges of clothing to brush against tantalising stretches of smooth, bare skin.

Kiba pulled away first, panting lightly; he lifted Ino's hand away from his chest and kissed it gently before setting it back at her side. Ino was puzzled for half a second before a lovely spectacle of his chest and arm muscles coiling and stretching as his top came off over his head stunned her into immobility.

Kiba was big, broad and muscular and was one of those lucky few who had been since about the age of sixteen; his board shoulders tapered down into a more slender waist – if anything about him could be called slender – and his muscled body gave testament to his hours of intensive shinobi training. In short Kiba was gorgeous.

She watched his throat move as he swallowed and realised (from his pointed gaze that was fixed a few inches below her own throat) that he was waiting for her to reciprocate the gesture and remove her own shirt.

Ino was so, so nervous as her shaky fingers tickled the hem of her shirt; she heard Kiba's intake of breath when her fingers twitched, seeming like they'd make a decisive movement to remove the garment but they didn't, not yet.

Kiba reached out a hand.

"Ino..." he murmured helplessly. She'd have to do it sometime, she knew that but the nerves were taking over. It wasn't the mutual infatuation that made her forget all her inhibitions like it was with Genma and it wasn't the passive adoration it had been with Jirou, this was different, like there was an expectation to be met and she was worried she couldn't meet the standard.

Kiba's hand skimmed her shirt as she moved backwards and sat on the bed, scooting backwards to sit up on her knees. Her shirt came off in one tug and she busied herself with taking down her wet blonde hair from the tie it had been held up in so she didn't have to watch him watching her.

She had on the red and black bra Genma had given her she realised belatedly and she felt her cheeks pinken slightly, _no wonder he's staring_, Ino thought worriedly.

A dip in the bed in front of her indicated that Kiba had dropped at knee to the bed and rough, hot breath on her shoulder indicated he liked what he saw.

A light kiss to her shoulder, then another and then the bra strap was slid down over her creamy shoulder and the kisses continued along to her neck and behind her hair. His hands were hot and rough against her skin as they glided down her smooth stomach and slid under the waistband of her skirt before ever so slowly sliding the purple fabric down her legs; he supported her closely as she fumbled to get the garment off her legs all the way and throw it off the bed and onto the floor.

When she came to look back up him, feeling unnecessarily shy to be in nothing put a skimpy bra and transparent panties she was met by his lips and the rough swipe of his hands up her body, she could feel their heat through her bra as they lay poised on her rib cage, a moment later sliding under the metal under-wiring of her bra to feel the flesh underneath. In return Ino touched his chest, feeling the bumpy ridges of muscle.

When he first toyed with her hardened nipples he pulled back to gauge the reaction in her face and to Ino embarrassment a throaty moan was that reaction. Kiba smirked, delivered a wet kiss to her lips and began the descent, interspersing more wet suctions down her throat and along the black lace of the bra.

His mouth slid over one pink nipple with no preamble, no teasing, just pleasure and as soon as needy keens began to mewl from her mouth he again gave her what she was asking for and slid a hand down.

She could feel her inner muscles fluttering in anticipation as a big hand drew lazy pattern on her stomach and the line above her panties.

"Ah...Kiba..." Ino gasped as he nipped at her skin creating a welcome warmth in her stomach that intensified as the hand slipped before her hemline and whispered over her entrance, deftly parting the silky wet folds with feather light touches.

The feel of his calloused finger brushing against her swollen flesh made a sharp cry fly from her lips, her stomach muscles flexed and she half sat up, only stopped by the weight of Kiba's body across her torso. Kiba's eyes snapped to her face.

"Ok?" Kiba asked gently, uncertainly, his finger going back to dip in the moisture of her sex.

"Yes..." Ino breathed, this time ready for the pleasure that accompanied the wet swipe of his index finger over her clitoris.

With a slide of his teeth over her nipple that made her shiver his lips came upwards again, rolling his tongue over her neck and licking up to her chin, it was the strangest sensation, dog-like, not that she expected anything different.

Ino showed her gratitude by moaning into his kiss and shifting her hips to press more firmly against his hand as an approaching climax tickled her senses; she stopped the movement of his finger against her soundly by grasping his wrist in her hand then moving to cup his hardened length through his trousers, enjoying the low growl-like noise that huffed against her hair.

Kiba had long since buried his nose in Ino's hair, trying to focus on its musty, wet scent so as not to be overpowered by the sweet, musky smell of femininity emanating from Ino's centre. The urge to hurry struck him again full force as Ino's hand slid into his pants, but he dutifully held back; Ino was not one of the regular girls and she didn't deserve for him to act like a little boy who couldn't control himself. His fingers curled beside her in the sheets at the sensations she sent through him as she caressed him causing him to shift and groan restlessly; apparently he was ready when she was.

Kiba removed his fingers, smirking cheekily when he held up the glistening digit and licked it sensually clean as she watched, eyes half lidded. Her scent had just increased to nearly overpowering proportions with his licentious act; she was ready.

His belt slipped out of the belt loops with a satisfying swish and Kiba undid his button fly hurriedly, the smell of Ino's sex especially thick to his sensitive nose.

Kiba smirked and leaned down to her ear.

"Turn over," Kiba growled hotly against her hair, nipping her jaw carefully with slightly elongated canines

"Kiba..." Ino groaned as she wound her hands around his back and pulled him against her, revelling in the sharp hiss of breath when his length bumped against her warm sex and the way his eyes slid closed and face contorted into sheer pleasure.

"Shit," he hissed, groping wildly for her hips to still them, "cheeky," he grinned against her lips, keeping his eyes screwed tight as he leaned down and kissed her.

"Uhgn..." Ino moaned into his mouth, feeling so intense and needy that when he flexed his muscles and turned her over in his arms she just flopped weakly onto her front, balancing on her knees and hands when he lifted her hips up and stared at the inviting spectacle he'd created with her body. Her bra was unclipped efficiently and slipped down her arms effortlessly before being added to the clothes pile on the floor. His large, calloused hands cupped her breasts, sending a jolt through her before they returned to her hips.

Ino should have known Kiba would do it doggy style but then if she'd thought about it she probably would have shied away from being intimate with him. She'd never done it like this before and that she was so opened up to his gaze and vulnerable would not have added to her comfort with the situation; but Kiba had been meticulous in getting her going, meticulous to the point where she could no longer care about what position he arranged her in just as long as he hurried the hell up!

Ino's fingers fisted tightly in the pillow in anticipation as she felt hot, dry hands smoothing over her thighs and hips and finally gentle, tentative fingertips ghost over her entrance; she took a sharp intake of breath and leaned back into his fingers, making small pleasured sounds as he teased her, keeping his touches light and featherlike.

"You ready, beautiful?" he barely panted, leaning down over her back to breath the question out onto her skin. Ino nodded hazily, she was so ready. Kiba was so hot, she could feel the muscle definition of his torso press tightly into her back and a second later a long, toned arm braced itself on one side on her head. There was some shuffling and shifting behind her before the other arm came down on the other side of her. "Shift your legs further apart for me," he panted. She did, and in less than a second he had shoved himself inside her with a strong thrust of his hips; her elbows buckled and she fell forwards, moaning into the pillow.

He began to move almost straight away making deep, blissful noises each time she felt his hips press against her rear and thighs, deep, guttural moaning sounds that made heat spiral in Ino's stomach and her inner muscles tighten in anticipation.

"Ah...Ino," she heard Kiba pant behind her, "stop...doing...that," he ground out through clenched teeth. _Stop doing what?_ Ino wondered even as her inner muscles fluttered around him.

His thrusts sped up, each one being accented by a deep and breathy 'ah' from Kiba and a long, continuous moan from Ino.

"...god...Ino...ah!" he hissed, suddenly removing his hot torso from her back and gripping her hips tightly, stilling the movement of them that Ino herself hadn't even been aware she was making but still she was pushing restlessly against his hands, her eyes closed and mouth open; she wouldn't like to _think_ what she _actually_ looked like.

"What is it?" she whispered, "what's wrong?"

"Just...just..." his hands slid up her back then down over her firm thighs, "shhh," he hushed as Ino groaned in frustration and collapsed onto her arms. One of his arms slipping around her thigh and to the warm apex of her thighs; the reaction was immediate. Ino gasped and Kiba groaned as she quivered around him, momentarily losing his strong rhythm of rasping strokes against her sensitive flesh. Nevertheless Ino felt herself hurtling towards the edge, feeling her insides quivering around the hard length wedged deep inside her.

"I like that..." Kiba growled breathily, finally returning his hands to her hips to complete their connection.

By the time he'd found a proper rhythm Ino was gone, gasping and groaning against the pleasure that ebbed and flowed throughout her body. Her knuckles went white as her hands groped for handfuls of sheets and her body strained forward, so sensitive in the aftermath that she could barely bare him to continue. Tension and emotion left her body as her release took over, leaving her with a boneless, uncaring feeling of endorphins swirling around in her system.

Kiba's body convulsed shortly after and he pumped out an irregular rhythm for a few more strokes before pitching forwards, managing to catch himself and lock his arms before he fell on Ino. Ino lay in the cave between his arms and body her eyes still shut and her body still thrumming with satisfaction. She felt the shift in the mattress as the body above her rolled onto the bed beside her and stretched luxuriously in complete fulfilment.

"Th...that was...good," he gasped out brokenly. Ino nodded tiredly curling up into the mattress as her breath and body returned to normal.

Nothing seemed so scary anymore to Ino, not the mission she'd have to go on, not that she would have to tell her father that she was going on it, not that she was in love with Genma or that he may have slept with Temari. The big things that had seemed so overwhelming that afternoon were now shrinking into the distance as Kiba pulled her to him again and began a slow, lazy kiss.

This time the easy option had prevailed.

"Thank you," Ino said aloud, when the kiss ended and Kiba smiled a half-lidded smile at her.

Ino knew that in the morning she'd still be in love with Genma and she'd still feel that love-hate kind of adoration towards him and perhaps sleeping with Kiba wasn't the positive step she'd thought it might be. As Choji had tried to explain to her five days ago the easy option was not always the best and Ino knew that by sleeping with Kiba she'd just chosen the easy option because that way she didn't have to take her emotions out on their intended target thus scaring him away.

It was for the sake of convenience but Ino felt that for now convenience was okay; especially when this particular convenience happened to be a six foot tall muscular shinobi who just happened to be pretty spectacular in bed.

* * *

I like Kiba :D

Really not sure about this one and there'll be mistakes alllll over it! Sorry about that but I hope the story still made sense. Plus I really don't like the sex scene, I don't know why and I kept writing Genma instead of Kiba which really did my head in!!

Next one will be better hopefully I felt like this one was ALL OVER the shop.

Thanks for reading!

Review if you feel the urge.


	17. Gerascophobia

Sorry it took so long! This chapter us huge once again.

Warning: bad language and slight sexuality

As always I hate this chapter lol but anyway try to enjoy!

Enjoy!

* * *

ANBU team 081 had four staple members: Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidou, the newly appointed Ito Daisuke and the there-since-creation Sato Ginzou who wasn't actually on active duty at the moment but he still helped organise the missions; whilst the former two had long since fallen into a drunken slumber at Raidou's apartment the latter was poring over the recent interrogator's report from cell 32D, newly handed in and with fresh blood splatters staining the curled corners of the paper. _...lovely_, Sato Ginzou thought as he eyed them with distaste; he'd never liked the idea of torture interrogation, it was probably necessary though and he'd once worked as an interrogator for a few weeks but it was not for him..._certainly_ not for him. Then again he could also argue that doing all the work in the squad of two laziest ANBU operatives was also not for him. The same couldn't be said for Daisuke, he was new and still fairly enthusiastic but the other two were growing tiresome, especially since he'd worked with them for coming up fifteen years now. He could only hope that the introduction of a female to their strange little team would make them buck up their ideas for this mission, well for Genma at least.

The long and short of the interrogation report was that they had their way in to the Miyagi complex based on the evidence from a Grass shinobi who'd been press ganged into joining Miyagi, and was now being persecuted for it; Ginzou shivered, it wasn't fair for him to be tortured and yet if he hadn't have been he wouldn't have just helped them immeasurably. If the detainee was telling the truth then Miyagi was expecting a flock of shinobi as a form of protection money from an anonymous source in one of the boarder villages of Grass and Fire, an anonymous source that was almost definitely a man named Tanaka from Wave, a man who was, luckily enough, on Konoha's watch list whilst he was staying in the area of fire's boarder with Sound; he wouldn't care if a few shinobi got lost in transit and chances were he'd be out of the boarder village within the week and the protection would be dropped anyway. It did beg the question why was Miyagi so keen on getting more and more ninja for his little compound?

Ginzou rubbed at his temples, why indeed. There was an answer but it wasn't a pleasant one so for the moment he decided to focus on getting his ninja on team 081 into the compound safely. Their plans would have to change, and it was possible that now every single one of them would have to go in undercover, which did put his mind slightly to rest because he'd been worrying about the safety of pretty blonde Ino.

There was a knocking on the door and a second later Takahashi Akina's head popped around the door.

"Coffee, Ginzou-senpai?" Akina asked brightly. Gin nodded and put down his pen, stretching his legs out under the table. "You shouldn't work yourself so hard," Akina told him lightly, coming around to deposit his cup of coffee next to him. Gin smiled and stifled a yawn; he liked Akina and the two had been skirting around the boundaries of flirtation for a few weeks now but he'd been too busy and too shy to promise he'd take her out.

"Oh...no, I'm okay." Akina smiled. _God she's pretty_, he thought catching himself from gawping at her pretty smile and redirecting his gaze to the table where her perfectly delicate hands rested. He was in deep.

"That's what you always say," she scolded him lightly, "and yet you never seem to take a day off, never have any free time..." He cringed guiltily; this was possibly a hint that she wished he had the time to take her out.

"No really, I'm fine," he placated, "this stuff isn't too difficult; I mean it's a nice break, it's not like I'm on active duty is it?" Akina's eyebrows rose immediately as he cringed again, realising what he'd just said to the strictly non-active, administrative Akina.

"Active duty? You're saying management isn't as complex as active duty?"

"I didn't mean...err..." but she was grinning at him.

"You idiot," she scolded fondly, boldly lifting a hand to swipe away the piece of hair that had fallen into his eyes, only to remove the hand stiffly when he jerked from the shock. _Damn, bad move_.The room became very still. He cursed himself. He'd wanted to touch her so much that when she'd touched him he'd got such a shock and fucked it all up. _I've spoilt it now_, he thought glumly, waiting for her to exit the room and he'd be left with doing his lazy jounin's work for them. "I..." Gin looked at her quickly becoming arrested by her extraordinary hazel green eyes, anticipating what she would say anxiously and excitedly, maybe this would be the moment they finally bridged the gap from friendship to... "I...told Miyabi to bring up a file for you from Interrogation, did you get it?" ...maybe not. Gin internally deflated. She'd chickened out, just like he did every time.

"Hm," he nodded towards the file on his desk.

"Anything interesting?" she asked reaching for the file. _Stop her...touch her!_

"Confidential," Gin sang, leaning forward to catch her hand in his and feeling a strange surge tingle down his body, "for me and the guys only." He told her, grinning to dissipate the tension in the room. Akina was still for a moment but then broke out into a beautiful smile.

"And where are 'the guys'?" she asked, hand self-consciously coming up to tangle around a strand of her hair.

"God knows," he muttered.

"Want me to send for them?"

"Hmm...what time is it..." Gin asked idly checking his watch: 6:15. Well there was nothing quite like an early start to encourage enthusiasm. "Alright, let's call in the boys."

XXXXXX

Waking up still pissed off his face under a pile of beer cans in his friend's apartment wasn't his idea of a great start to the morning, and remembering that his girl was wrapped around another tall dark and handsome shinobi just made him depressed. _Then_ he remembered that he was one day away from his fortieth birthday and the depression mounted ten-fold.

Genma groaned in pain and discomfort, the room was still spinning and when he tried to get up he immediately fell back down again. There was a rosy glow from the windows as fresh light doused the dark room, the sun hadn't been up long.

"Raidou," he grunted, poking the scarred jounin who was half falling off the couch with his toe, "Raidou!"

"Eh...w...what?" he grumbled in answer.

"Are you still drunk?"

"Yh huh," he moaned the affirmative.

"Can I be sick in your toilet?"

"Yh huh." And so he was.

Half an hour later he was loading his best mate's toaster with bread as said best friend still lay prostrate on the sofa.

"Eugh," he groaned as the smell of food wafted over to him, "put some in fer me will yer..."

Genma did so and then put his back to the toaster and stared out of the window to the building opposite, frowning. Last night's melancholic acceptance of Ino's existence in the apartment opposite had turned into a grumpy morning anger; how dare she go with Kiba? She _knew_ he wanted her, she _knew_ it, she'd rejected him and then they'd rolled around on her bed with the intent to...or at least _he'd_ had to intent to follow through with it, maybe she hadn't? Could it be possible that he was being played?! Genma lifted a bemused hand to his head. Could she have known he was at Raidou's? Could she have slept in the apartment opposite on purpose? Could she have... _Now I'm being ridiculous...and paranoid_. But it didn't stop the thoughts swirling in his head.

"S'rong with you?" Raidou mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his head as he watched his friend closely. Genma grunted in response and turned to make some coffee; really he wanted more alcohol but he'd be sick again if he did and he didn't fancy being sick again.

Even after he'd eaten his dry toast he still felt sick but he suspected that had more to do with the fact that he was considering his upcoming birthday; he'd put it out his mind because he knew that if he pondered turning forty he's possibly give up on life all together. Forty felt middle-aged; people's _parents_ were forty not people. He grimaced.

"I'm forty tomorrow," he said aloud to his friend who was munching toast happily on his makeshift sofa bed. He grunted through a mouthful of bread and sprayed bread crumbs everywhere when he said:

"So?"

"What d'ya mean 'so'? I'm going to be _forty_!" Raidou shrugged and hopped up off the sofa with surprising vigour.

"I always thought after thirty birthdays got really boring; I mean what changes, really? You'll be doing mission 'til you're seventy odd anyway," he loaded more bread into the toaster, "life's not really gonna change at all."

"But I'll be...I'll be middle aged!"

"Pfft, who cares, you're reputation is so sound now that I doubt the ladies'll care and that's pretty much all there is to it." Genma scratched his chin; perhaps Raidou was right, but one lady in particular seemed to be going off him, that was for sure, and he wasn't happy about it. He wasn't finished with Ino yet and yet she was...

A white and purple flash outside the window had Genma bristling with alertness and when two seconds later the balcony door lock clicked and a masked ANBU flitted into the apartment Genma's senbon was in his hand, flicking between his fingers.

"Oh, it's you," he said dourly as he recognised the purple striped mask of Uzuki Yuugao.

"Good morning to you too!" she chirped, taking off her mask and throwing it on to the sofa. Genma watched her eye the beer cans cynically then take an inhale of breath before the big speech.

"Don't! I know what you're going to say," he told her, pointing an accusatory finger. She held her hands up in surrender.

"Fine...but I _will_ just say that you shouldn't encourage _him_," she nodded her head in the direction of Raidou who was munching more toast.

"Whaff?" he spluttered through a mouthful. Yuugao rolled her eyes.

"Anyway it's time to break up your mother's meeting, you've got work to do; Ginzou wants you down at ANBU HQ in the next ten minutes, and he wants the rest of your team there too." Genma groaned.

"Can't you see I'm hung over?"

"Your fault," Yuugao shrugged callously, "I pass Shikaku on my way but you'll have to get the other two."

"Two? So Ino's definitely on board?"

"Gin says so," Yuuago shrugged again.

"Why can't _you_ come with us? Why can't we have an ANBU, or at least a jounin?"

"Because I don't have a mind transfer jutsu up my sleeve." Yuugao chirped, smirking at the distressed jounin.

"Hn." Genma glowered.

"Ino's perfectly competent," Raidou said rolling his eyes, "her file checks out brilliantly and it doesn't damage things that she's smokin' hot." Genma glared at him whilst Yuugao laughed.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he mumbled, "I mean we're going into the lion's den not a fluffy rabbit's burrow!"

"Hm and it has nothing to do with the fact that she makes you go all poetic?" Yuugao grinned at the glaring jounin. "Look I'm sure she's more capable than you make her out to be," she said, reaching over to ruffle his already ruffled hair, "you just worry about her because she's got blonde hair and big...blue eyes."

"Fuck off, Yuugao," Genma groaned, sucking furiously on his senbon and knowing that if he were the type to blush he'd be blushing bright red right then. Yuugao smirked.

"'kay, don't keep Gin waiting too long though," she told Genma who glowered at her back as he watched her walk back towards the balcony doors. "See ya hot stuff," she murmured loudly in Raidou's ear as she passed and in one stunning moment pinched his bum.

Raidou jumped, startled, and then became very still as Yuugao disappeared out the doors surrounded in a cloak of giggles. Genma's brow furrowed.

"Did she...did she just pinch your _bum_?"

"I wonder what he wants at this time..." Raidou said nonchalantly, noticeably evading the question and pottering around the kitchen with practised indifference.

"Did she call you 'hot stuff'?"

Raidou looked up at Genma, then opened his mouth, then closed it. Yuugao _never_ acted like that, she was practically asexual, so why the hell...Genma's eyebrows rose, stunned, as equal measures of fury and gladness streamed through his blood.

"Are you...are you two...?"

"Look, we'll discuss it later-"

"You two are...?!"

"No, we're not, it's not like that."

"Not like what?" The two exchanged wary, confused looks, neither wanting to voice what they thought it may or may not be like: one night stand or proper relationship? Genma wasn't sure which he'd find worse. Raidou struggled for words again.

"I...I'll get Daisuke and meet you there in ten," Raidou decided on saying in the end, quickly muttering his message before hurrying into his room and slamming the door closed behind him. Genma's head was spinning; _Raidou and Yuugao??!!_ He just couldn't get his hung over head around it. He felt kind of jealous and that didn't make him feel good at all, he wasn't a jealous man by nature and yet that morning he'd had two cases of the most excruciating jealousy, but he had to focus; he was a ninja and his work had to come first, and besides if Raidou was getting Daisuke that left him with...

Genma again looked across at the apartment opposite, there was no movement what so ever, even the little white dog that had jumped up at the window and yapped at an unsuspecting postman in the early hours had quietened down, and he'd have to go in and spoil all that.

He couldn't help that he was going to enjoy it, just as he couldn't help the twisted smile from curling his lips.

XXXXXX

Ino accepted the fact that there was a large white dog spread out across her and Kiba with a surprisingly minimal amount of surprise; it was warm and soft and so she decided not to comment on it. Besides Kiba was still asleep and she was still wondering how would be the best way to resolve this situation. She wondered if Kiba was expecting her to be gone in the morning, she wondered if he'd be awkward and angry if he woke up and she was still twisted around him as she was, one leg curled around his hip and an arm wrapping around his back, tightly pressing their chests together, kept in place by the large fluffy weight on top of them.

Her face was pretty close to his and she could feel his warm breath puffing out onto her cheek. If she thought about it too much panic rose in her stomach and claustrophobia threatened to close in on her, she couldn't get out of this situation without disturbing the dog even if she wanted to. So she guessed she had no choice but to wait here until he woke up and even then perhaps she'd pretend to be asleep so he could conduct the morning activities.

However somewhere between waiting for Kiba to wake up and pretending to be asleep Ino had actually fallen asleep again and the next time she woke it was to the sound of an insistent pounding followed by a loud, steady yip that was so irritating that Ino completely forgot to feel nervous about the situation and snarled angrily:

"What's that?" Kiba muttered something inarticulate and rolled into Ino causing Akamaru to fall off the bed with a yelp. Dark brown eyes cracked open, stared into Ino's and then crinkled into a smile.

"Mornin'," he murmured raspily, pulling Ino into a careless kiss that she desperately tried to avoid but failed as soon as his tongue was in her mouth. Kissing first thing in the morning, without having brushed her teeth or at least having a drink of water make her fret like crazy, but it was actually kind of nice...until the knocking started again, of course followed by the resounding yap of an unruly white puppy.

"Fucking door..." Kiba grumbled as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand then rolled off the bed and into some boxers that were waiting for him on the floor. Ino watched his back as he walked out the room and eventually went out of sight to open the door, and then she stretched and smiled. Kiba was so casual and laid back, it was nice, it reminded her of...well it reminded her of Genma, of course, who else was that careless and casual when it came to sex? But it didn't make her heart pang with heartache, instead she felt safe and shielded – she was enjoying another man without feeling weird about it. She was learning...maybe.

The bed was warm in the spot he'd vacated and so Ino moved over and snuggled under the duvet. Akamaru, who'd since doggedly got back on the bed and resolutely stayed there when Kiba had gone to answer the door, whined softly from the bottom of the bed. Everything seemed okay this morning, she needn't have worried. Ino lay with one ear to the mattress and one straining to listen to what was going on at the door. The deep hum of male conversation murmured through the walls of Kiba's apartment and although Ino couldn't quite hear what they were saying she began to feel some kind of ill, hot, embarrassed tremors quivering up her spine; she could make out Kiba's voice but the other...she _knew_ that tone, she _knew_ that voice and the slight inflection of the words and the dull, masculine lowness it took on early in the morning.

The contented smile slid off her face. _No. Way._ _What the fuck is he doing here?!_

She vaulted the bed and hovered undecidedly at the door, anxiously creeping forward to try and gain a view of their intrusive guest without actually being seen. _Fuck_. He was leaning lazily against Kiba's doorframe, dressed for cold weather and with his arms crossed over his torso, a senbon flicked between his lips and Ino felt like she could almost hear the soft click click sound of the cold metal against his teeth.

Akamaru whined softly by Ino's side and she crouched down to ruffle his ears and try and shut him up.

"Shh," she cooed softly when the dog gave a gruff growl of contentment, her eyes wandering the wood surface of the door as she listened.

Why _was_ Genma here? Did he have business with Kiba? Come to think of it was Kiba an ANBU yet? Was he a jounin? He must be at least a jounin...probably, not that she knew much about him at all. Uncertainty curled in her stomach and Ino closed her eyes and rested her head on the door; she couldn't help but feel tainted and strange. How many people had she slept with in the past few weeks? Three. It didn't sound so many when she put it in perspective – she was trying to sleep with as many as she could after all – but still they'd all _touched_ her and been _inside _her. Ino grimaced. Cowering there in the doorway of Kiba's bedroom Ino realised she'd completely lost sight of why she'd slept with Genma and Jirou and Kiba, Genma most of all because if she had remembered that she'd done it to become an independent woman, one of those strong kunoichi that could go into battle fearlessly and love wholeheartedly for one night until the morning, then forget, she wouldn't have been hiding herself, she'd have strode out into Kiba's living space and shown Genma that there was nothing she felt ashamed of; she'd stride into the living room, pass the two men with her head held high; as it was the last thing she wanted was for Genma to know she was there.

The white head of a dog popped up above the back of the sette.

_No Shiro_ Ino mouthed to the small dog, watching his ears twitch and his eyes sparkle with mischief.

The puppy gave a sharp yip, halting the mutter of conversation.

The dog sprung over the sofa, landing on the floor with a hard thump before running up to Ino and yapping at her feet.

"Shhh," Ino hissed, pleadingly, but Akamaru, having been shocked by the rambunctious puppy began to growl low and uttered two loud booming barks before lunging at his son causing the small white bundle to go crashing into Ino's legs, followed by Akamaru until they were an untidy pile of tangled fur, person and growls.

"Fuck! Ouch!"

The intruder's eyes slid to the partially open bedroom door. _Fuck. Fucking stupid dogs!_

"Ino?" Two voices, each a foreboding simultaneous echo of the other. There was actually no way she could hide her presence now. Shiro darted out from under Akamau before he could come to anymore damage and did a leaping circle of the room before thumping straight into the back of Genma's legs.

When Ino emerged at the doorway, looking bashful, a twisted bed sheet utilised to cover her modesty – not that in this room she really needed to since they had both had front row seats to the all night naked Ino show – Genma was shaking the dog's jaw lock from his trouser leg; a highly comical scene that dissipated some the tension that had settled over her shoulders.

"Genma? What're you doing here?" Ino asked, nervously running a hand through a sticking up mess of blonde.

Genma's eyes slid sideways and Ino cringed as they seemed to appraise every inch of her body, from her bare toes to her mussed fair hair; she could almost see the disgust flicker behind his eyes. _Like he can judge!_ Ino thought indignantly.

"I came to speak to Ino." Genma stated succinctly, eyes flickering back to Kiba.

"Oh..." Ino muttered in a half-whisper.

"Go ahead," Kiba said, hopping up onto the kitchen side board and flicking on an electric kettle, swinging his feet happily and looking so very young, so very content, so very almost naked.

"I came to speak to her _alone_." Genma declared shortly, glaring at Kiba with unyielding eyes. Ino's eyebrows shot up and she was just about to scold Genma for his manners when Kiba gave a mock salute to Genma and hopped off the side board.

"Alright," Kiba said lightly, "She's all yours," he told Genma with a grin as he breezed into the bathroom, apparently still giddy at the thought of having slept with Ino the night before. He didn't seem to feel the tension in the air around him as he skipped out of the room and began to whistle a light little tune as the door closed and the shower was cranked on.

"Kiba?!" Genma hissed as soon as he was gone. Ino's brows furrowed.

"Yeah, so what?"

"Why _Kiba?_"

"Why do you have the right to judge?"

"Why _don't _I have the right to judge?"

"You slept with my best friend's girlfriend!"

"I didn't sleep with her!" Ino scoffed. Genma ran a hand over his face, rubbing circles into his eyes with his fingertips, "Ino I'm not having this conversation in your _lover's_ apartment."

"He's _not_ my lover."

"Slag," Genma smirked and even though Ino wanted to scowl it came out as a grin.

"Piss off," she murmured trying not to sound amused and entertained.

"Listen Gin wants us at ANBU HQ, we've got mission stuff to do."

"Gin?"

"Yeah, you know, you met him last time."

"Erm..."

"He was there last meeting, tall, fair hair, kinda girly looking."

"Oh yeah, the only one who thought I was worth anything," Ino said snidely.

"Yes, that one," Genma stated blandly, "Get ready," he told her.

"But I need a shower!" Ino exclaimed.

"Don't push it."

XXXXXX

Ino met Kiba, washed and glistening, halfway between his bedroom door and the front door, he was a figure of masculinity and drop dead gorgeousness with a towel around his waist and wet hair dangling in his eyes.

"I...I...I have to go," Ino stuttered, not ready to be assaulted by such a sight so early in the morning when Genma had just interrupted.

"Ok," Kiba shrugged, "See ya," he said casually, but before Ino could think that this was the only goodbye she'd be getting from him slid his palms up her arms and pulled her forward for a kiss, and not a chaste peck on the lips kind of kiss but an I-can-feel-your-tonsils kind of kiss. "See ya, beautiful," he murmured, running his fingers through her blonde hair.

"Uh...huh," what else was there to say? "I...I've got to go now," she mumbled, "I...it's...Genma, he's waiting...so..." Kiba grinned.

Genma was wearing a thick coat with his hands stuffed deep into the pockets, looking very insular and unreceptive – strange after their light-hearted hello.

He was waiting outside when she finally emerged, last night's clothes set askew on her frame, his unsociable stance had his back turned towards the door, towards her.

His hello this time was manifest in the cynical look he cast at her over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows at her off the shoulder shirt.

"Well it's nice to know that underwear's being put to good use," he chided indignantly.

"That's why I bought it wasn't it?" Ino snapped back. Genma shrugged.

"Guess," he mumbled, _it's not why I picked it out though,_ he added to himself.

Ino felt weird, like she should say something or apologize for something and she kept having to stop herself from doing just that. She was cold and tired and the cold was just making her more tired. She yawned widely, barely managing to hide it behind her cold hand. She was envious of his coat but felt it wouldn't be appropriate for her to snuggle up beside him when she hadn't showered since the night before, and so she walked as close to him as she dared, as close as his hostile aura would allow her.

He kept throwing her sideways glances, she didn't like it. It wasn't like he was any better than she was, she kept telling herself, it wasn't like if he had met someone last night he wouldn't have got with them and thought nothing of it and it wasn't as if he'd succumb if Ino gave his dark looks, snarky comments and a generally very cold shoulder.

"Are you sure he's not your lover?" Genma finally asked as they turned a corner and could no longer look back to see the large, grey outline of Kiba's apartment building.

"Well...we had sex but that's not really a 'lover' is it?" Genma shrugged. "Why?"

"Are you going to see him again?"

"I don't know...maybe...why?"

"No reason." Then he closed right back up again, hunching away from the wind and Ino.

God it was cold, sunny but cold, Ino couldn't remember a time it had been this cold in July, but then again Ino was having a hard time trying to remember a time she'd been up at 5:30 in any month of the year before, maybe this was what all 5:30s were like?

Ino ran her hands down her arms subconsciously trying to make herself warm; she spent her time resolutely ignoring Genma – whose sideways glances were beginning to be really irritating – and observing the sleepy houses and apartment blocks and shops that they passed. A boy outside a restaurant to the left was sweeping the floor in an idle fashion and stopped to watch them pass whilst on the right a food stall was belting out the most delicious fragrances Ino had ever smelt. _When was the last time I ate?_ Ino wondered mildly, trying to recall yesterday's schedule. _Well I skipped breakfast and went to the hospital to get Dad and then...oh yeah then Mum made us a special meal and I had some rice when I got home but I didn't have tea-_

"You just looked very...cosy with him, is all."

"Oh for god's sake!"

"What?"

"How the hell did you even know I was there anyway?"

"Ino I'm a trained ANBU, we covered locating in the first lesson!"

"Oh yeah, and when was stalking covered?" Ino bit.

"Forth lesson." he shot right back. Ino wasn't in the mood.

"Genma you should understand the situation better than anyone; it was _just_ a one night stand!"

"You don't give one night stand's goodbye kisses!" _Oh...so he saw that?_

"I gave you one, didn't I?"

"That's different!"

"How?"

"Because...you...we...it just is! And you just don't do it!"

"Well maybe _I_ do?" He scoffed but Ino was too tired to continue the argument; maybe when she hadn't been awake half the night and it wasn't a ridiculously cold and ridiculously early morning she'd shout at him for it.

Ino yawned widely causing Genma to let out a highly unamused grunt of 'hn', just enough to show that he'd noticed she was tired and could imagine that it was because she'd been screwing Kiba all night, and he certainly did not approve without actually having to say it, it pissed her off just as much though.

"What?" she snapped irritably, "am I not allowed to be tired now?" Genma cocked an eyebrow and sent her an infuriatingly innocent side long glance.

"I didn't say anything."

"You don't have to; it's radiating off you in waves!" Genma watched as Ino ran a stressed hand through her hair and for the first time noticed how jumpy and agitated she was; he wondered if she felt weird after sleeping with Kiba, after all Kiba was kind of...dog-like, what if he'd treated her badly? What if he'd been to rough, or had some weird dog sex kink? _I wish_, he thought glumly; more probably Kiba was just as good as him...almost as good as him.

"You need to chill out," he stated matter-of-factly as Ino bristled again, gritting her teeth angrily against the cold and shoving her arms more tightly around herself; she whirled on him, knocking his shoulder none too gently with her palm.

"_Chill_ _out_? What do you mean _I_ need to _chill out_? _You_ need to _chill out_!" He wished she'd stop saying 'chill out'.

"Ino...are you okay, he didn't do anything...weird, did he?"

"No! No he fucking didn't!" Again her shaky hand dragged over her scalp, "But I still feel like shit. I don't even _know _him! I mean I could stand Jirou because he was just being nice and Kaito was just going to be an experiment...but I _like_...Kiba, you know, really _like_ him and now all he sees me as is a convenient shag and its driving me crazy."

"He only...why?"

"Because why wouldn't he? He's got no reason to think otherwise! Sex is all there is between us, if it wasn't for the sex I doubt he'd ever talk to me again!"

"Haven't you only done it with him once?" Ino stopped herself from tearing her hair out and answering impulsively; perhaps, just _maybe_ she wasn't talking about Kiba, perhaps she was referring to someone much closer to home.

"We...yeah..." she sighed, defeated, what was the use of this conversation, he wouldn't understand she was talking about him and she'd get angry at him for it. It wasn't his fault he had no idea.

"Do you think sex is all there is to you?" Ino let out a growl of frustration.

"No! But it's all he sees, it's like...never mind, it doesn't matter." Again her hand fidgeted in her hair. Genma was silent, thinking deeply about what she was saying, did she really like Kiba that much? So much as to be worried about what he thought of her? The whole point of a one night stand was that you didn't have to give a shit what the other person thought of you, even if you were having an off night it wouldn't matter because you'd be back on the next night and the rumours would quickly change direction. He didn't want Ino to like Kiba that much, he was jealous, both that he had the ability to affect Ino like that and because he was twenty odd years younger than he was..._that bastard_.

"Well maybe you just need to stop sleeping with people!" He knew it wouldn't help to say this, it was contrary to everything else he'd said and yet he was too frustrated to care about it. In fact no he wasn't and he braced himself against the shrill sound of her shout before it even came. But it didn't, instead she snorted.

"I can't believe _you _are suggesting that!" she retorted sharply.

"Well not everything's about sex and sleeping with people!"

"I know that! I just thought I could count on you to be supportive of this, because god knows I'm having a hard time being supportive of _myself_!"

"I _am_ supportive!"

"Well then what was that attitude this morning?" Attitude? Genma didn't think he'd had one, he could have had so much _more_ of an attitude if he'd been letting it all out.

"I just thought you'd made a mistake is all," he said quite pleasantly...through clenched teeth.

"Why? What's wrong with Kiba?"

"Nothing, just you're moving from man to man kind of quickly aren't you?" Even he cringed as he said this. _I'm the biggest hypocrite_.

"Well it's your fault if I sleep with lots of people!"

"Ino, it's your choice to do it!"

"So you think I shouldn't?" What a loaded question. She should sleep with people, just no one younger than him and no one who was a better fighter than him and no one who was better looking than him, also no one with the potential to be better in bed than him, because quite frankly it just wouldn't do.

"I...I think...if it makes you feel bad then no you shouldn't."

"It doesn't," Ino muttered bitterly, "it's your reaction that makes me feel bad."

"Well I just think you're too...it's just not a nice thing to do, is it?"

"It's not like any of them care! Besides you do it!"

"I'm not like you, you're..." he struggled for the word, "different."

"Oh, thanks."

"Well you are, you're too...childlike." She stared at him with big wide blue eyes, glistening with moisture from the cold wind.

"How can you say that?" she whispered, completely astonished and with a tilt to her eyebrows that said she was hurt by what he'd said.

"Why do you hate being called innocent so much?"

"I don't! I just think how can I be a strong kunoichi if I'm _innocent _– It just shows everyone thinks I'm stupid! Everyone knows its just another word for stupid! It's not fair that everyone thinks I'm a complete idiot just because I had an insane crush on a boy _once_ when I was eleven years old! People don't want me on their missions, they don't want to fall in love with me, no one takes me seriously...and now I've found one thing people do want to do to me and I can't even enjoy it because I feel so fucking _guilty_ that I may as well go back to hating myself for being stupid!"

"No one thinks you're stupid-"

"Oh just please shut up...please."

"You're different because you're untainted by all that crap-"

"Shut up!"

He did shut up but only because if anything else came out his mouth that second it would have contained a lot of swear words and shouting; it wouldn't help the situation. He was angry at himself for being angry at her, and he was angry at her for being angry at him.

They walked along quietly as the sun struggled to reach the top of the sky; it was still cold, a time of year when the old women in Konoha said that Rain's clouds had moved south. Maybe they had? He didn't know much about the weather and clouds and all that. Regardless he was very glad he had his warm coat which he'd almost not brought, the collar was fur lined and the sleeves were long and draped over his hands snugly.

Beside him Ino was either very angry or very cold. She was silently shivering beside him.

He grabbed her hand, interlocked their fingers and shoved it into his deep pocket.

"You're always so damn cold," he muttered moodily, more to himself than Ino.

It was warm in his pocket so she didn't argue, she almost did but restrained it. Ino smiled remembering how he'd clasped her hands on the night they'd met and how awkward it had been and now, after everything that had happened, it seemed kind of normal for him to seize her hand and put it into his pocket, just as it seemed kind of normal for him to do this after they'd had an argument, their relationship seemed to be founded on arguing; sex and arguments, they were exceptional at both.

Walking into the ANBU HQ wasn't quite so scary this time, she stuck close to Genma as he offered a lazy smile to the receptionist and then followed him up some stairs and then to several sets of heavy double doors.

Genma held the door for her, an impromptu act of chivalry based on a sudden surge of guilt at how he was behaving towards her. She didn't go through the door but preferred to stand just in front of it and stare at him with her blue eyes, wide and innocent, trying to promote pity and a sort of paternal forgiveness.

"Are you angry with me?"

Genma snorted a laugh and walked through the door himself, leaving her watching his back as he went down the hall and turned into one of the conference rooms, his try at chivalry shot to shit, he was not in the mood for those eyes.

XXXXXX

"You look rough!" Raidou chirped in their general direction when they entered, which was met with a stony silence and astringent glares.

"Thanks." Ino muttered after a while, keeping her voice as deadpan as possible.

"Fuck off," Genma snapped; Ino narrowed her eyes - _he is angry then?_

Raidou was lounging in the chair at the head of the rectangle table, the chair that was comfortably over-stuffed and with two wide arms. He was alone in the room and looking over something when the two came in, something scrawled messily in Gin's tangled script of a note pad.

"What does 32D mean to you?" he asked, peering up from the paper as Genma sat down and Ino hovered by the seat next to him before taking off to the window and watching a few groups of ANBU taking off into the bright sun and touching down onto the grey pavement outside.

Genma scratched his head.

"Er...Ino's bra size?" A stab at humour this time in response to the guilt.

"Genma!" Ino exclaimed, her head snapping away from the window to glare daggers at the seated jounin. That hadn't worked either, in fact he thought this response might have pissed him off even more than the doe-eyes coyness. Raidou managed to stifle his giggles adequately.

Genma sent a sly grin in Raidou's direction before turning innocent and wide eyes again and picking up a pen and a piece of paper that some team before them had left and began doodling a picture of a dog.

"So what d'ya think they want with us?"

"Pffft, I don't know, Gin's notes are cryptic as ever, he came careening in here, stole Daisuke then took off again, said he'd be back in a sec."

"Hn." The conversation ceased with this inarticulacy and Ino was left to stare out of the window in peace.

Shikaku slid into the room five minutes later, a steaming cup of coffee balanced precariously on top of a file and a newspaper. He entered silently, his greeting a short raise of his hand, began reading the newspaper and was asleep within another five minutes, paper over face and coffee happily steaming away on the table in front of him.

Genma sighed and put his head on the desk, Raidou stole Shikaku's coffee before finding his own comfort in the table top, but apart from that nothing progressed.

Daisuke bounced into the room about ten minutes later followed by the jounin who Ino'd just recently found out was 'Gin'. Gin sat down heavily in the chair at the head of the table and snatched the notes he'd scribbled down from beneath Raidou's sleeping head.

"Wake up, stupid," he muttered irritably.

"All nighter again?" Raidou snickered, scratching his head and yawning sleepily.

"Someone's got to," he muttered under his breath again.

"Hello Ino-san!" Daisuke sang, and then putting a thin file in front of Genma and taking the seat beside his - "Hello Genma-san!" he chirped.

"Mornnng," Genma grumbled, lifting his head off from the table.

"Please have seat, Ino-san," Gin instructed

"Just...just Ino's fine," Ino said sheepishly, considering sitting next to Genma as he intimidated her least in this room, second only, perhaps, to Daisuke, but deciding across from his was further distance and that way she could glare at him across the table.

"Right, we're off to the border the day after tomorrow."

"What?!" Raidou and Shikaku.

"Ohhh the wife's not going to be happy about the short notice," the latter groaned.

"I know but this is the break we needed," Gin turned to Genma, "I'm just sorry it had to come the day after your birthday, you're going to have to reel in the drinking at your birthday celebrations, mate."

"I don't want birthday celebrations," Genma said moodily, "I don't want a birthday at all." Shikaku snorted.

"Try having your forty seventh birthday – now that _is_ depressing." But it didn't make Genma feel any better and he felt like sitting next to eighteen year old Ito Daisuke was only making it even more evident that he would be turning forty tomorrow. He could feel Ino's eyes watching him but even so he couldn't find it in him to wipe the sulky pout off his face.

Ino had completely forgotten Genma's birthday was so close and immediately began worrying about everything there was to worry about for Genma's birthday. Should she get him something? Or would that be too weird? Was he expecting her to sleep with him on his birthday? What would she wear? How the hell could she get ready for both this mission and a party in such a short space of time?!

"Of course you'll have birthday celebrations!" Raidou chirped, sitting up straight in his chair, "it's already been arranged with the pub."

"What?" Genma exclaimed, astonished, "when did you arrange that?"

"Last week," Raidou told him, "well I knew _you_ weren't going to do it so me and Yuugao did...you're paying of course."

"...of course," Genma muttered.

"Anyway, why do we have to go so soon?" Shikaku spoke up, diverting the conversation back to the topic and thinking of going back to bed after the meeting in his head.

"Tanaka is sending Miyagi a shipment of shinobi set to arrive sometime this week so we have to move fast."

"Tanaka? What's it got to do with him?"

"Protection money," Gin stated, "he's got businesses on the boarder and doesn't want to have to station his own heavies there, too difficult to control them, see?" They all saw. "So you guys will pose as the shinobi."

"So Miyagi doesn't know who these shinobi will be?"

"Nothing was specified."

"So he could have sent him absolute duds?"

"Would you send Miyagi Izurou dud ninja?"

"Alright, I was just checking!"

"Unfortunately they've already seen Shikaku so he can't play dress up; he's gonna be setting up camp close by and watching. Daisuke can't either, but he's silent and fast so he'll be relaying messages again. He can get closer to the compound without getting into trouble. Genma and Raidou, you're pretty self-explanatory – you're undercover, we've got proper character profiles for all of you but they're pretty easy to remember. Ino you're a medic from a ninja village, a surprise present; there wasn't any talk of a medical ninja in the correspondence between them so you'll have to blag your way through it." Ino nodded, she was pretty good at being economical with the truth anyway. "You three are all being displaced ninja and you don't know each other, it's all in the mission notes, but it's important you don't act too chummy. Oh yeah and you can't just slack off either, you're going to have to show yourselves to be worthy, Miygai's not just going to let anyone into his inner circle like that; you're going to have to milk your special abilities for all they're worth."

"But...I don't have any special abilities." Ino blurted out before she could think to stay quiet.

"Course you do, you've got that weird healing technique." Genma announced.

"The one I told you not to tell anyone about?" she asked with practised calm.

"Erm..."

"I doesn't matter, we told Hokage-sama about it and she said she'd help you get it perfect." Ino grimaced, Tsuande would help her get it perfect but only after the hour lecture on not using untested techniques on patients.

"Right, fine, but why are we here so early?" Shikaku yawned.

"We've all got a character profile and formal mission dossier," Daisuke said, still sound inordinately cheerful and plucking out pieces of paper and handing them to the relevant parties.

Genma scanned over his though it was much like every character profile he'd ever been handed, a few subtle differences here and there but nothing major. One thing on the page made him start, blanch then slump deep into his page. Genma was to be Suzuki Yuma, specialist jounin, weapons expert, _forty_ years old! _Eww that's sick._

"I've got to be sixteen!!" came the shriek from the other side of the table, followed by silence and a nervous laugh from Gin. _This just keeps getting worse!_ Genma thought, not only was he forty and not only was the person he most enjoyed at the moment twenty years his junior but she could pass as a sixteen year old?! Ino had never been further away than she was now, sitting just across the table from him.

"Oh yeah, about that..."

"Do I look _sixteen_?" Ino exclaimed, accenting the word like it disgusted her.

"She gets to be sixteen and I have to be forty?!" Genma cried in frustration, "how's that fair?"

"Well you _are _forty-"

"Not yet!"

"Sixteen?! What the hell is-"

"Hush hush everyone, there's a reason if you'll let me explain!" Genma and Ino showed their compliance with hard glare-stares and the others by quietening their sniggers.

"You see...well...Miyagi doesn't like girls...well I mean not like _that_, I don't know about _that_ but in his personal guard there are no girls except one whose been with him since he was young. In the past couple of years the only girls he's been remotely interested in have been young; he likes to take people young and manipulate them and we feel the younger we make you the better your chances will be so-" What was left unsaid but ran out clearly in the room that there was probably other motives for him only taking on young, teenage girls to work closely with him.

"So why do I have to be forty?"

"Because you _will_ be forty and you're not a girl." Genma raised an eyebrow.

"I hate you all." Genma pouted, putting his head back on the desk and resolving to fall asleep.

"Good," Gin bit, "there'll be more information sent to you later today as we get things sorted so for now everyone go and learn your profiles, get your stuff together, no uniforms just generic ninja dress and nothing that'll incriminate leaf."

"Yeah yeah," Raidou muttered, "I'm off to the pub, anyone coming?"

"It's half seven," Shikaku snorted. Raidou shrugged.

"Early bird catches the worm and all that."

The screeching of chairs signalled people's departure and Genma was sure he stayed with his head on the surface in front of him for a good ten minutes before he lifted it and was immediately confronted with those goddamn blue eyes.

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" she asked concisely but with an edge of ice.

"Why do you think?" he snapped childishly. "You're sixteen and I'm forty!!" He knew he was being childish on all accounts this morning, it just added to the sting of being _forty_..._eugh_! Ino sighed and stood up.

"You're being ridiculous."

"I'm not!"

"Why're you being so difficult?"

"I'm not! Why don't you try being forty!"

"Is that really what we're talking about?"

"I..." partly it was, partly no, he was angry about Kiba and he wanted her not to sleep with other men and he didn't want it to be an unreasonable request; his male ego was taking more blows this morning than it ever had and it was making him moody, perfectly justifiable. Even so he opted for a cowardly "...I don't know what you mean," preferring not to go in depth into his psyche when Ino was present to probe around in it too. Ino sighed again at his childishness and he cringed at the sound.

"Right, listen because you'll never hear this again. Genma you're a very successful shinobi, a special jounin, an ANBU, you're respected by your colleagues, people want you on their missions with them, you could have any woman you wanted – _any_ woman because you charm the pants off everyone you meet - literally, you're a lovely person, a good friend, you're accepting of people, you're understanding, you always know what to say, you're so smooth in everything you do and to top it all you're sexy as hell...and you know it, so stop complaining! Some people would kill to be you!" But he'd proved Ino wrong: he really didn't know what to say, that many compliments in one sentence was...well he just wasn't used to it!

"And yet you'd prefer to sleep with Kiba?" he spoke quietly, knowing it was far too controversial to say but saying it anyway.

"Prefer? 'Prefer' had nothing to do with it!" Ino cried, banging a palm on the desk, "Is this why you're angry?" No answer. He hadn't even flinched when she'd hit the desk. He looked insular again, cold, like he was both there and not there at the same time. "Are you...are you jealous?" Still no answer, and this question was controversial. Ino didn't know whether the silence indicated a yes or a no, she was beginning to realise that Genma was experiencing some pretty problematic feelings right now, perhaps because of his upcoming birthday or perhaps because of her. His indifference began to annoy her so she decided to wrap it up. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she spat rhetorically, not expecting an answer and not getting one. He just stayed silent in his seat, staring ahead at the wall somewhere near Ino's waist.

Ino seized the papers she'd been given, including her mission's character profile and she made to storm out of the room.

"Ino..." the timidity was what made her halt, "you will be there tomorrow, won't you?" She looked back over her shoulder at him and studied his positioning, he looked tired, alone and eerily passive and for the first time _old_.

At the time Ino continued storming out the room as if there had been no hiccup but later as she trudged homewards she felt terrible. How would she have felt if she'd woken up early in the morning to collect Genma from a girl's house? Like shit probably. She couldn't quite imagine what it would be like to have a fortieth birthday on the next day but from all the evidence she could gather it was not very nice.

Genma was going to be _forty_! That seemed pretty old to the twenty year old Ino but she couldn't think to care, not when he seemed angry with her for sleeping with Kiba.

She briefly allowed her self to entertain that maybe he had a sense of possession over her and it sent thrills of possibilities through her but forced herself to shop such girly ponderings. However, when she arrived home and set up for a shower she was still fantasizing about the idea.

XXXXXX

It was a broken hearted Shikamaru that broke up Ino's solitary existence that day, staggering through the blistering mid-day sun to Ino's door and knocking. There was no answer and so he gave another half-hearted knock before just walking in.

Ino was asleep on the sofa, a box of tissues and an ANBU file beside it. He contemplated sneaking a peak at its contents but deciding if Ino woke up things would become too troublesome, he didn't pay much attention to the 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamp, confidential stamps couldn't shout and scream and get violent.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he studied her laying there. It only took one look at him, his shaggy black hair and the circles under his eyes for her to compose her next sentence.

"What's wrong with you?" she fired straight back. Shikamaru wouls sometimes come to her, looking a state and stay for a few hours, no explaination, let her cook for him, use her shower, allow her to mother him and worry over how tired he looked and then he'd be off and she wouldn't see him for the rest of the week. He didn't answer, just stared at her with a penetrating gaze that demanded an answer before he gave his own. Ino visibly sagged and sighed and flopped her head back into the sofa cushions.

"I slept with Kiba last night," she told him expecting his face not to flicker at the revelation, and it didn't.

"Temari's going home...for good," he said as if in answer, in the same plastically rigid monotone she'd used.

"Want to talk about it?"

"...no, not really...you?"

"No." Ino stared into the distance, listening to a clock ticking somewhere in her house.

"Why do you do it if it makes you like this?" he asked, quite obviously talking about it.

"Genma's causing problems," was all she had to say for him to lower his head with an almost silent 'oh'.

"You could always tell him you love him." Ino snorted.

"Oh yeah 'Genma, I'm madly in love with you!' I'm sure he's never heard that before."

"It's not if he's heard it before but who he's heard it from."

"We're sleeping together, we're not-"

"You're so silly. Ino you're a lot more lovable that you think you are," he sighed, hardly forming the words with his lips but instead sighing them into one long syllable.

"I'm...what do you mean?"

"I mean you don't give yourself enough credit, under all that blonde hair and violence there's insecurity." Ino wrinkled her nose at Shikamaru.

"Temari's turning you soft," she told him, producing a silly grin, another un-Shikamaru characteristic.

"Shut up," he murmured. "What I'm trying to say is I never told you how I felt but then you never told me."

"I never knew-" Ino protested but he interrupted her.

"I know but I still regret it everyday and if you'd have told me earlier things might have worked out."

"You regret...everyday?"

"Well, I never thought I'd say this but I think even _you'd_ be a lot less troublesome than Temari." Ino didn't know whether to laugh, cry again to hit him. In the end she did a strange mixture of all three in a hysterical display of female hormones.

"I don't quite know how to take that," Ino sniffled thought though tears of giggles she didn't know.

"It's a compliment, backhanded but still a compliment." Ino smiled as did Shikamaru, his eyes wondering the floor and resting on the unopened ANBU file.

"You definitely going on the mission then?" he asked solemnly. Ino nodded silently. "You should tell him," he said again, "this mission will not be a piece of cake Ino," he said gravely, "if there's trouble and he has to fight his chances are...slim." Ino hadn't even thought about that but it made a decidedly sick feeling rise in the stomach.

"I know I _should_, it's just easier said than done."

"Hm," Shikamaru made an agreeing noise and, still staring at the file said slowly, "but...if he disappears out of your life for good it'll be ten times harder trying to get over it than if you've fought to keep him." There was an element of melancholic personal experience in his tone. Ino felt guilty suddenly

"Fine, I'll tell him. But after the mission." She sighed, getting up off the sofa as if this statement concluded her feelings and wandered into the kitchen to make tea.

"So, you and Temari..." she shouted through to Shika who had taken up residence on the vacated sofa, and the next topic of discussion began.

* * *

Thank you so much to everyone who reads, comments, adds me to lists and all of it, it's so nice!

I'll try and get the next one out sooner because I'm exicted to write them! Especially the one after the next one :) Sorry for mistakes in this one, I got a bit frantic towards the end!

Comment if your not offened by my absence! x.


	18. Forty

Good evening everyone! So I've been the world's worst author :( I'm sorry! I will make it up to you!! Here's a little chapter just to ease us all in to the story again! Thank you for still reading, the feedback is amazing! Love you allll!

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Forty

The next morning Ino got a call to go and see Ginzou in ANBU HQ on her own. She had no idea what it was about, mission stuff probably, and so she trudged over there, throwing off Shikamaru's arm that had wrapped around her sometime during the night as he lay beside her in her bed, half on it and half off it and of course still fully dressed. The previous night she'd played the perfect best friend, listening attentively as he bitched and moaned about Temari, a rare occurrence, not the bitching and moaning obviously, but the raw emotion that he exuded when he spoke of the sand kunouchi. It made Ino jealous but when she examined the feeling she found it hard to tell whether it was actual jealousy or just a lingering feeling that she ought to feel jealous. Truth be told she felt like she had too many conflicting emotions and troubles on her mind to be bothering with jealousy of Temari.

She still hadn't told her family she was going on the mission and it made her stomach twist into knots of anxiety. In fact the mission itself made her stomach curl with worry; yeah, she wanted to prove herself but it was still scary. There was no Shikamaru to smooth over her mistakes, or Choji to ensure her it was just a one off, this was real, this actually meant something and if she screwed it up then she put people's lives in jeopardy, Genma's life in jeopardy. Then again she suspected Genma would be watching her like a hawk, making absolutely sure there was no way he'd have to return home and explain to her parents that she was lying in the hospital morgue. She only hoped she could look out for him and Raidou similarly.

Ino was too sleepy to feel anxious this time when she stepped into the ANBU headquarters and all stares, if there had been any to begin with, washed over her like a cool breeze. The secretary at the desk was different was last time, less snarky and more helpful. Ginzou was in his office apparently which was on the second floor and so Ino took the stairs.

In fact anxiety didn't even enter it until a very unwelcome encounter on the stairwell with a group of unmasked ANBU, one of which had beautiful brown eyes, a casual strut and a smirk around his lips when he saw her. _Kaito._ When she got closer she saw badly concealed dark shadowing around his eye and cheek. _A black eye?_ Well wasn't that just divine retribution...?

"Ino-san, please sit down."

"Thank you."

"Sorry for bringing you in so early but everything has to be a lot more rushed than I'd have liked."

"Oh, no, it's okay. I understand."

"Well Tsunade has booked some time with you today to go over your technique." Ino grimaced.

"How angry is she?" Ginzou smiled.

"She had no time to be angry, though I expect you'll get an earful when you get back. But...that's not all. I...I wasn't _completely_ honest yesterday...about the age thing..."

"Oh?" Ino intoned weakly, almost knowing what was coming before he had time to say it. "He _likes_ young girls doesn't he?" she asked blankly, the corners of her mouth down turning in disapproval and grim acceptance. Ginzou sighed.

"Ino you have to believe me – I never intended you to be a honey trap but your skills are just too good to pass up." Ino groaned and rubbed a hand through her hair.

"God...I knew it."

"He might not even be straight, I mean he lives in a compound full of men but...there were a few incidents which lead us to believe..." Ino grimaced.

"...that he's a paedo?! Doesn't anybody else have some sort of espionage technique?"

"I guess but yours is the best and it compliments the other's so well, you can be submissive and yet still get things done, it arouses less suspicion, see?"

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"

"I didn't want to..." he trailed off and sighed at length, mirroring Ino and running an equally stressed hand through his hair, "well firstly Shikaku sees you as a little girl, you're about ten years old to his eyes, he'd never agree to it, I had to twist his arm to get him to agree to you even going, and Genma...well...everyone's...everyone's heard the rumours..."

"Rumours?"

"There's a grain of truth in it no doubt?"

"No doubt," Ino answered stiffly.

"Anyway he wouldn't like it." _He certainly would not_, Ino thought musingly, he who had enough trouble with her going on the mission in the first place would not be happy at all if he knew she was part infiltrator and part honey trap. "It'll be much easier if you can get him alone, I mean he's not the sort to tell things to a lover but...you could be persuasive and –"

"Woah, wait, a lover?"

"Well obviously you're under no obligation to sleep with him but if you fit the bill for the type he likes then maybe he might...warm up to you."

"...warm up to me..." Ino echoed morosely.

"You'll be great, Ino,"

"Hn..."

"You haven't told your parents yet, have you?"

"Why?"

"Shikaku's worrying about it."

"_I'm _worrying about it, he's going to go ballistic with me!"

"Yeah? Well he's going to get violent with me when he finds out it was me who sent you." Ginzou's eyes creased into a smile. "Don't worry about it, we've all got your back, the sooner you tell him the better you'll feel."

"Yeah, I know."

XXXXXX

Minutes later Ino stood outside her own family's front door, twice reaching for the door handle, twice retracting her hand. It was a miracle Shikaku hadn't told him already though Ino suspected he'd understand how Inoichi would feel about it and how we may get punched if he were the one to impart the news unto him.

This was far too difficult, she should have told him so much earlier than this and he would be mad because she'd took so long in telling him as well as because his little girl was being put in the firing line. Maybe she should tell him tonight on the off chance he got too drunk to remember anything at Genma's party? But then she'd have to deal with it all when she got back, _if_ she got back. Ino shivered.

Anyway, no point being scared now, she'd fought for this, it was a chance to prove herself, to all those who knew her as 'Inoichi's daughter' or 'Shikamaru's old team mate' - she'd take the chance, if only to become just 'Ino'.

The house smelt of her mother's cooking and although her mother wasn't actually in the kitchen when she entered there was a pot bubbling away on the stove. Her stomach growled, maybe she could swindle her way into getting some?

Her dad was there, of course he was. Ino had half hoped he'd be out. Somehow telling her mother would be easier than her father, her mother was typically more submissive. She'd still fuss though, like she did every time Ino went on a mission, big or small.

"What are you doing here?" was the muttered greeting from the blond sitting at the kitchen table, newspaper in place as it so often was these days. Ino tutted. It wasn't that Inoichi meant this uncaring salutation cruelly, it was just that he always found it difficult to know what to say, even more so since Ino had hit thirteen and begun looking more distinctly female. He was a typical man's man and as such he found expressing his fondness of his daughter difficult too; he used to show it by taking Ino into the small cluster of trees behind their family home that served as a sufficient training ground for his offspring and heiress, but of course these intimate training sessions had long since dried up, the last time probably being some time around her first failed Chunin exam.

"Good morning to you too, _dearest_ Daddy," she bit, sitting opposite him at the table. "Where's ma?" Her father shrugged. "Hm."

She knew she'd have to tell him some time but he just looked so intimidating, sitting across from her, tall and broad shouldered and with a stern fatherly expression as he looked over the page; Ino felt like she was a little girl again, having done something naughty and was having to own up to it; always at those times did she notice the bigness of her father, like how his hands span at least twice hers, or how his large blue orbs of eyes sailed gently across the page in front on him serenely and how in a few moments time they could turn into stormy whirlpools. Her mother always told her that her own blue eyes could do that when they got into a fight but she'd never witnessed it in herself. He seemed so much bigger than her, so much braver, so much more suitable to be going off on a mission the next day that would require every bit of strength and technique and guile that he'd ever been taught. But it was her turn now. Still the silence stretched on.

"Dad, I've got a mission."

"Uhhuh."

"A serious one."

"Hmm."

"An ANBU one," his eyes snapped up from behind the paper and levelled with hers.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah..." she murmured weakly, "I'm going...erm...I'm going to Kitakaku, I'm on an undercover mission, I'm infiltrating the Miyagi complex with Genma and Raidou." There was a pause as the elder Yamanaka studied his only daughter's face with a neutral expression, then he went back to the print of the page before him.

"You bloody are not," he intoned calmly. _Great_, Ino thought, rubbing her eyes with one hand and screwing her eyes tight shut in frustration, _this is going to be a very long morning._

XXXXXX

Genma lay in a pretend sleep for an hour before he actually got up, and that was only begrudgingly to the sound of his front door receiving quite a beating.

"You have a goddamn key!" he yelled as he yanked open the front door to find the startled Yuugao standing there exactly as expected, "and it wasn't even locked."

"Tut tut, you should always lock your door," Yuugao chirped happily, bustling right through his door and into the kitchen to deposit her carrier bags onto the table.

"What's that?" he grumbled, glowering in the direction on the bags, brimming with food stuffs.

"Birthday breakfast for the birthday boy," Yuugao told him brightly, flicking on the electric kettle before coming around the counter to throw her arms around the 'birthday boy'. "Happy Birthday, Genma," she said happily, kissing him on the cheek.

"I was planning on spending this whole day in bed," Genma grumbled again, his shoulders becoming even lower now the words were out: it was now officially his birthday.

"I thought maybe you were," Yuugao said, nodding grimly and she turned back to the food, "I half expected you'd spend the whole day in bed with a carefully selected female," she cast him an eyebrows-raised glance over her shoulder, "which is why I knocked by the way. I've known you long enough to know how you deal with depression."

"I'm too depressed to find a girl," Genma intoned ruefully to which Yuugao only laughed.

"Maybe you're worse than I thought," she joked happily, punctuated by the pleasant sound of bacon hitting the hot surface of the pan and sizzling cheerfully.

Genma poked his nose into one of the bags and sniffed around inside on the hunt for something he could add to the tea Yuugao was making to make the day taste just a little sweeter.

"You won't find any in there," Yuugao told him knowingly, "but there's some orange juice somewhere," she jabbed a bag with her finger, "if you still want to get plastered tonight then your quite welcome but until then you should at least stay sober until you open your presents."

"I was planning on a liquid breakfast," he complained morosely after a thorough inspection of all the bags again revealed what she'd told him to be true.

No alcohol.

"Hmph, anyway you have a mission tomorrow don't you? So you'll have to go easy today."

"I don't care," he muttered sourly, remembering that he'd be on the mission with Ino which reminded him of Kiba, Ino and Kiba, kissing and stuff. Urgh.

Yuugao could tell there was something other than his birthday troubling him, and this was because he was more pensive and less belligerent, more depressed and less angry with the world. Maybe he was just nervous about the mission, but it was unlikely, maybe he was finally realising he couldn't stay an eternal bachelor, especially with beautiful young blondes running around...likely.

"Yuugao?" Genma asked after a while, "would you rather sleep with me or Kiba?"

"Kiba? Which one's he?"

"Young one, always with a dog, he's got like the spikey hair thing going on."

"Oh yeah, where I come from he's 'Hana's sexy brother'." She flashed a smile at Genma's grimace. "Well he is hot," she muttered pensively, referring back to his original question, "bit young for me though and I – hang on is this a one time thing or a sort of recurring thing?"

"I don't know!" Genma exclaimed, "All I wanted you to say was 'definitely you, Genma, without a shadow of a doubt'."

"Okay, okay, ask me again."

"No," he pouted grumpily.

"Definitely you, Genma, without a shadow of a doubt," she giggled, putting on a petty, high pitched, girlish voice. "Why did you ask anyway, what's Kiba done?"

Genma mumbled something incoherent and looked to the floor. Yuugao raised an eyebrow.

"Pardon?" she pressed, knowing she was being annoying.

"I said shut up woman and make me my breakfast!" Yuugao tutted.

"You'll never make a misogynist," she smiled fondly, flipping the bacon.

"I'm having a mid-life crisis," Genma muttered glumly

"Silly boy," she murmured gently, "Well I can't say I've ever slept with Kiba so it's not like I can compare, but Genma it's you, she's hardly going to stay faithful to _you_ is she." Genma didn't even stir at her words, of course she knew it was about Ino, or at least a girl.

"I don't want her to stay _faithful_! That sounds like we're...dating...or whatever, it just sounds wrong." Yuugao shrugged.

"Then why are you making such a fuss?" Genma had no answer for this and so just perfected his wounded puppy look whilst staring downcast at the table top. "You're such a silly boy," Yuugao tutted, reminding Genma of the few times his mother ever spoke fondly to him in a way a mother should. "You're so confused," Yuugao continued.

"Exactly, I'm confused, that's exactly what I am!"

"And you're so worried about what'll happen if you sort out your confusion that you're just planning on staying confused for the rest of your life aren't you."

"I...I'm...what?"

She didn't answer. She just stared with an impenetrable purple stare that only exasperated Genma further.

"I'm possessive, I'm a man, men are possessive."

"Hm."

"What's 'hm'?"

"It's what you do to me when I'm being so ridiculous you don't want to continue the conversation anymore."

"Hm."

"Exactly."

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Again thank you for reading ans staying true! I'll try and become a consistent up dater again :D xxx.


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